The Soul of Ten
by midgetdanny
Summary: There were supposed to be ten Elders evacuated to Earth when the Mogadorians attacked Lorien but one of them never made it to the ship. This is the story of what would have happened if he did. This is the story of Number Ten.
1. Chapter 1

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter One**

15 February 2011

Paradise, Ohio wasn't a large town by any stretch of the imagination. The population was barely over 5,000 residents. Normally Connor avoided towns like Paradise, he found the small town life to be quite dull. He preferred the hustle bustle of big towns, the anonymity of a crowd. It was almost impossible to go unnoticed in small towns whereas the exact opposite was true of cities.

But he was there for a reason. He scrolled down the news article, skipping over the information about the family. He knew who John and Henri Smith were and he was about 98% certain that they weren't terrorists, although he was 100% certain that they had been involved in the destruction of Paradise High School.

He stopped on the pictures of the two. John was tall and blonde, most people would probably say that he was handsome. He wore a blue pendant around his neck, the same as the one that hung, hidden, under Connor's shirt. Other than that pendant Connor wouldn't have known John Smith from Adam. But his father, Henri Smith, Connor recognised him.

When he knew him he'd been called Brandon. They'd spent a year together, along with 9 other children and 8 other adults, when they'd travelled to Earth from their planet, Lorien. As soon as he saw his face Connor had packed a bag and headed to Paradise.

John and Henri were both on the run from the FBI after they'd supposedly been involved in the destruction of Paradise High and the murder of 5 members of its staff.

Since he'd arrived Connor had been discreetly talking to the residents, trying to find out as much information as he could without getting the attention of the FBI. Just about every resident of Paradise had said the same things about John and Henri Smith: they kept mostly to themselves and John Smith was head over heels in love with Sarah Hart.

He'd had trouble approaching Sarah directly, the one time that he'd tried the FBI had grabbed him before he could get anywhere near her. They'd basically told him that if they saw him attempting to talk to her again he'd be arrested.

But he hadn't given up, he'd simply spent some time coming up with a more subtle approach. That was how he'd found himself walking into the school in the next town over. After the battle at the high school, and Connor was certain that there was a battle, all of the students had been accepted into schools in the surrounding districts until Paradise High could be rebuilt.

This particular school was Athens High School and it was the one that Sarah Hart had been sourced to. He figured that the FBI couldn't control who Sarah spoke to at school; that would be almost impossible, not to mention entirely unethical, although, if his suspicions were correct, the FBI didn't care much about ethical.

He fiddled with the ring on his finger as he walked through the school towards the principal's office. The ring was made of Loralite, the same as the pendant which hung around his neck, hidden under his shirt so that no one could see it. Loralite was the rarest gem on his planet, Lorien, and could only be found at the planet's core. This particular piece of Loralite allowed him to change his appearance so that the FBI wouldn't recognise him as soon as he tried to speak to Sarah.

The principal wasn't in when Connor arrived but his PA was happy to register him for his classes. She looked through his paperwork, all forged, and didn't find anything wrong, not that Connor expected her to, and then gave him his options for his classes. He'd done his research on Sarah Hart, he knew which classes she was taking and he chose as many of the same options as he could.

He had no lessons with her that day but it didn't matter to him, he was patient, willing to wait.

As it turned out he didn't have to wait long.

He'd just got his dinner from the cafeteria when he spotted her. She was carrying her dinner to a table in the corner when he saw a group stand in her way. The girls were in cheerleader uniforms which proudly showed their support for the Athens Bulldogs, the school football team, and the boys were wearing letterman jackets; they were the football team.

One of the guys knocked Sarah's tray from her hand and another grabbed at the camera that hung around her neck. He pulled it hard enough to break the strap.

Connor strode towards her, carrying his tray of horrible looking school food, watching as Sarah tried to walk away but two of the girls pushed her back as the group ringed around her.

Connor placed his food on a nearby table and pushed through the group, shouldering a couple of the larger boys out of the way.  
"Is there a problem?" he asked casually, butting into their conversation.  
"None of your business, newbie." One of the guys said to him "Let us talk to the terrorist."  
"Oh, she's a terrorist?" he asked, feigning surprise "What did she do? Blow up an embassy? Shoot up a mall?"  
"She was dating the kid that blew up her school." One of the cheerleaders announced "Now get lost."  
"So the kid she was dating was a terrorist. That doesn't make her one." He stepped next to Sarah "So give her back her camera and we'll get out of your way."  
"Who's gonna make us, shrimp? You?" one of the guys stepped right into Connor's face. Connor had to look up to make eye contact but he wasn't scared, even as three equally as big guys stepped up to flank their friend.  
"If I have to."

The ringleader reached out and placed a hand on Connor's shoulder, squeezing as hard as he could. Connor reached up and casually grabbed hold of the boy's wrist, pressing his fingers into the pressure point on his wrist, forcing him to release his grip on Connor's shoulder. He twisted the hand so that the palm was facing upwards and then, with his other hand, pushed the boy so that he staggered backwards a couple of paces, letting go of his wrist as he did.

"Are you going to let us walk away now?" Connor asked. He was standing casually in front of them, his arms crossed over his chest. He wouldn't look threatening if it wasn't for the hard look in his eyes, one that told them not to mess with him.

The group slowly parted to let them walk out. Connor spotted the guy who'd took Sarah's camera and stopped in front of him. He held his hand out and the guy gulped before giving it to him. Connor smiled and continued walking, passing the camera to Sarah as they walked.

"Thank you." Sarah said once they were far enough from the group that she wouldn't be heard.  
"It's my pleasure." He replied. They sat at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria. Connor had left his food on the table where he'd left it so neither of them had anything to eat.  
"My name's Sarah. Sarah Hart." She held out her hand and he took it with a smile.  
"I know." He saw the startled look on her face and she tried to pull her hand away but he held on tight, not letting her pull away "I've been looking for your boyfriend: John Smith. I know him by a different name: Number Four."  
"You're one of them, aren't you?" she asked, her face going white.

"Is everything alright, Sarah?" A tall guy with black hair and bushy eyebrows sat next to them, putting his tray on the table.  
"He's one of them, Mark." Sarah breathed. The guy grabbed the crappy knife off of his tray and swung it straight for Connor's neck. Connor didn't move a muscle but the boy's arm froze in mid-air. He strained to stab Connor but his arm just wouldn't move.  
"I'm not a Mogadorian." He reached to his neck and pulled out the pendant that hung there "I'm a Garde. Like John. I'm Number Ten."

"You can't be." Sarah gasped as Connor let his telekinetic grip on Mark go. The boy's hand dropped to the table and he let the knife go "Why are you here? Why aren't you looking for the others?"  
"I am looking for the others. That's why I'm here. If anyone can help me find John it's you."  
"I keep telling the FBI. I don't know where he is." Sarah told him. She sounded exasperated, like she'd answered the question so many times.  
"I figured as much." He replied easily "We Garde are good at hiding. It's what we do. He'd have been dumb to tell either of you. No offense." They both looked a little taken aback at how lightly he was taking this "But if he loves you as much as everyone in Paradise thinks he does…"  
"He does." Sarah cut him off. She sounded so confident, Connor wished he could love someone that totally.  
"If he loves you that much then he'll be in touch eventually. That's why the FBI are watching you."  
"What do you want me to do?" Sarah asked.  
"Just let me know when he does contact you. And tell him about me. He'll want to meet me." Sarah and Mark shared a look before the girl nodded once. He smiled brightly.

"Now, I propose a deal." He looked at them both "Come around to my place after school. I'll tell you everything that you want to know and in return you tell me about the battle. There's some very important questions I need to know the answer to."  
"Sounds fair to me." Mark agreed. Sarah nodded her head eagerly.

The three of them met up after school and Sarah drove them back to Connor's house. He'd rented it when he first came to Paradise and lived there on his own. He'd been very careful after his first attempt to speak to Sarah so that the FBI hadn't followed his first alter-ego back here.

He unlocked the door and let the two in before cagily checking the street for any surveillance. Surprise, surprise he could see a town car parked up down the street. It had followed them from the school, which could mean only one thing: the FBI would be following him soon.

He closed the door and led his two guests into the living room. The house was a little rundown and only had three rooms: the bedroom, the bathroom and the sitting room/ kitchen.

"The FBI are outside." He told them as though it was the most casual thing in the world.  
"They're always outside." Sarah said. She sounded drained, like she was fed-up of being followed "I can't go anywhere without them following."  
"How are we going to talk with them listening in?" Mark asked.  
"That's easy. There's a reason that I chose this house. The walls and roof are lined with lead. Their listening equipment won't be able to hear anything we say in here." Mark laughed and he could see the weight leave both of their shoulders.  
"Shall we start with you guys?" he asked "What happened during the battle?" The two of them looked at each other before Sarah started to talk. She told him about the house fire and how John rescued her and then they moved on to the day of the battle. Sarah told him about John leaving home economics to talk to the principal and then Mark told him about how he saw the video of John jumping out of his house with Sarah so he went to his house to talk to Henri. But Henri was leaving as he got there because someone had faxed him a note asking if John was Number Four.

Everything after that went a little crazy. John ran home when Henri got to the school, fought with Henri and then ran back to the school to say goodbye to Sarah. The Mogs were already at the school and John found Sarah hiding in the dark room. They tried to leave and the Mogs caught up to them.

That was when the one thing that Connor had dreaded had happened. Number Six had turned up to save them. He was glad that she'd been there, according to both Sarah and Mark they'd all have died if it wasn't for Six but that came with a huge consequence for all 7 of the surviving Garde.

When the ten of them, the next generation of Loric Elders, escaped Lorien when the Mogadorians attacked the last remaining Elder, Loridas, had cast a charm on them. The effects of this charm gave them all a number, 1 – 10, and they could only be killed in the order of their numbers. Numbers One, Two and Three were all dead. John Smith was Number Four, the next in line, and Connor was Number Ten, the safest of them all. But the charm had one weakness, if any two of them came together, if they met in any way, then the charm stopped protecting all of them.

Now that Four and Six had met then the charm was broken and Connor was as vulnerable now as John.

Sarah and Mark continued talking about the battle. After that it was a little but crazy for everyone, neither of them could tell him much of what happened. But they did mention that John's dog, Bernie Kosar could change its shape and that Henri, John's Cêpan, sent from Lorien to protect him, had been killed in the battle.

"I remember Henri from the ship." Connor told them when the two of them had finished "He was a good man. A kind man. I'm sorry that he died." Neither of the other two said anything but they both looked quite sombre, like they didn't know what to say.  
"I remember the chimaera too. We called him Hadley then. He used to fly around the ship and the younger ones would chase him around." He smiled fondly, he hadn't enjoyed much of their year long journey to Earth but the moments like that always made him smile.

"How do you remember so much?" Sarah asked "John didn't remember anything."  
"Because I was the oldest." Connor replied easily "Me and Number One were three years older than John. The only one even close to our age was Number Seven. I doubt the others remember much at all."  
"No way you're nineteen." Mark declared. Connor laughed and reached down to the ring on his finger. He pulled it off and the others watched as he grew right in front of them. He didn't change much, not really. His hair grew a little longer, he grew a lot taller and a little more muscled and he had a light shading of stubble on his chin.

"How the hell did you do that?" Mark asked.  
"Is that your Legacy?" Sarah asked at the same time.  
"No. The ring came from my chest. It allows me to scan an image of someone and then become them."  
"What are your Legacies?" Mark asked, leaning forwards with interest.  
"You'll have to wait and see." He replied with a mysterious smile.

Sarah's phone rang and she excused herself into the bedroom to talk to whoever was on the other end. She came back in a few minutes later with a weird look on her face.

"I've just been invited to a party." She frowned, as though she couldn't understand why.  
"Me too." Mark showed them his phone screen where he'd got an invite by text.  
"Are you going to go?" Connor asked them.  
"Will you go with us?" Sarah asked. She looked at him with hopeful eyes and he knew that he wasn't going to say no "I don't think I want to be around those guys without some support."  
"Who doesn't like a good party?" he replied with a confident smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Two**

24 February 2011

Connor climbed out of Sarah's car and looked up at the house. He could hear the music from the bottom of the path, as well as the laughter and general chatter that accompanied a party.

Sarah joined him at the bottom of the path and they walked up to the house together. Connor fired off a quick text to Mark to see if he was there yet and then tugged on the black, metal band that he wore on his left wrist, adjusting it to make it more comfortable.

The front door was open and they stepped through. Connor didn't know who's party this was but he figured that it didn't matter, he was going to have a couple of drinks and try to enjoy himself.  
"I hope this goes better than the last party I was at." Sarah muttered as they pushed through the crowd towards the kitchen.  
"So do I. I'm not fireproof, if you get stuck you're on your own." He nudged her with his shoulder and she laughed a little, nudging him back and knocking him into a group of guys. They pushed him away and Connor apologised to them before returning to Sarah, who was laughing at him.

"I'll get you back for that." He promised, pointing his finger at her threateningly.  
"Is that a threat or a promise?" she asked cheekily. He reached out to grab her but she jumped away, laughing as she did. He chased her through the house into the kitchen, both of them jumping around groups of people who were talking in the hall.

He finally cornered her in the kitchen, putting an arm on either side of her so that she couldn't get away.  
"Now you've caught me what are you going to do?" she asked confidently, putting both of her hands on his chest. Connor opened his mouth to reply but he was cut off by Mark.  
"Hey, guys." The quarterback called. Connor glanced over his shoulder to look at the boy and Sarah ducked under his arm, dashing over to Mark and giving him a hug before Connor could grab her.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mark asked as Connor swiped a beer from the island in the middle of the kitchen.  
"No, you're timing was perfect." Sarah pulled away from him and turned to look at Connor.  
"I will get you." He repeated before taking a swig of his beer. Sarah just waved and then moved away from the two of them, spotting one of her friends. Mark grabbed a beer as he watched her go.

"Is there something going on between you two?" he asked. Connor took a swig of his drink before replying. He'd been expecting a question like that all week. Since the night at his house he and Sarah had become quite friendly. They laughed and joked and messed around with each other and from what he could gather Sarah hadn't been like that since John left.  
"No, there's nothing going on." He replied confidently "She loves John. I can see it in her face every time someone mentions his name. But she needed to come out of herself a little. She wasn't doing anyone, including herself, any good moping around waiting for John to come back. So I cheered her up a little." Mark nodded but Connor could see that he wasn't 100% sold. He didn't care. He knew that there was nothing going on and that was what mattered.

"What happens to you when John comes back?" Mark asked as they made their way through the house, trying to find where Sarah disappeared to.  
"Hopefully, he's with Six and the three of us go on to find the others and kick the Mogadorians all the way back to Mogadore."  
"Just like that?" Mark asked.  
"A boy can dream. In reality it probably won't go down like that at all. It's Murphy's Law."  
"It's what?"  
"Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."  
"There's that can-do Loric attitude we all know and love." Mark laughed, patting Connor on the shoulder.

The two boys walked in silence through the house, neither of them spotting Sarah anywhere. They walked out of the back door and Connor perched on the table that was out there.  
"Seriously though, bro, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out fighting the good fight?"  
"I've been fighting since I was 13. If I've learned one thing it's that sometimes taking no action is the best course of action." Connor took a drink from his bottle and looked up at the stars, his eyes gravitating to the point in the sky where he knew Lorien belonged "But that doesn't mean I won't be doing anything. If a better lead comes up I'll be out of here."  
"You've been fighting since you were 13?" Connor jumped when Sarah spoke behind him, he hadn't heard her approach.  
"I told you the other night that One and me were the same age." They both nodded in agreement. Sarah came and sat next to him on the table, resting her hand on his knee like it was the most casual thing in the world "We were good friends even before the Mogs came. When they killed her was when I developed my first Legacy. The other's came within 6 months. So I decided to fight back, to avenge my fallen friend. I've been fighting ever since."

"What about your Cêpan?" Mark asked "You had one, right?"  
"Yeah, I had one. Rory. He didn't make it to the ship." Both of them started to ask more questions but the look on his face must have told them not to bother. Rory's death had been the final straw for Connor, he'd seen his grandparents fighting to the death, women and children mauled by beasts and his planet destroyed. And then, on top of it all, he'd watched the person that was meant to raise and train him be brutally murdered in front of his very eyes. It was one of the reasons that the journey hadn't been pleasant for him.

"I've just seen Emily." Sarah told them "I'll be right back." She got off of the table and walked away, heading into the house after her friend.

"You never said how you got into this." Connor pointed out.  
"I told you. He saved my dogs. I went to talk to him about it and just got there at the right time." Mark shrugged as though it was nothing.  
"Come on, I know you two didn't get on. Everyone at school talks about it. So why was he at the party?"  
"On Halloween me and the guys thought that we'd scare him up a little." Mark started. He drank from his beer "He kicked the crap out of us. Told us it was done. After that beating I wasn't going to argue with him. So I was trying to build bridges. With him and Sarah."  
"I'd guess that worked out better than you thought." Mark smiled and little and the two of them clinked their bottles together.

"You know, I haven't been to a party since my house got burned down. I didn't think that they'd be the same." Mark confessed.  
"If we're confessing secrets, this is the first high school party I've been to." Connor told the boy.  
"Wait, you've never been to a house party before?" Mark asked, shocked.  
"I never said that." Connor shook his head and drained the dregs from his bottle "I've been to loads of frat parties at college. But they were all older than me. It's nice to be able to drink with people my own age. Even better to drink with people I know." Mark raised his glass and Connor touched his empty bottle to Mark's.

Sarah came back with Emily a few minutes later. The taller brunette had her arm wrapped around Sarah's shoulder and was whispering in her ear. Connor could see that Sarah had been crying, there were still shining tear marks on her cheeks.

Connor got off of the table and walked up to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder from the other side.  
"What happened?" He asked easily. He didn't care which of the girls answered, as long as someone told him what had happened.  
"A couple of the guys were making jokes about John." Emily told him "She overheard them."  
"And you let them upset you?" he turned her so that she was facing him "Come on, Sarah, I thought you were stronger than that."  
"So did I." she replied as she reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks "I don't know what happened. I was crying and I didn't even realise."  
"Hey, that's ok. You love him and you miss him. No one should have to listen to someone insult their boyfriend like that." He pulled her close and hugged her "If you want I could always beat them up for you. That might make you feel better." She chuckled against him and Connor smiled against her head.  
"I just want to go home."  
"Cool. But we're walking."

Mark left with them but he didn't live that far from the party so it wasn't long before the two of them were on their own. Connor noticed Sarah shivering so he shrugged his coat off and draped it over her shoulders. She smiled slightly but she hadn't said anything since they left the party.

"They really got to you, didn't they?" he asked quietly. She looked at him a second before nodding thoughtfully.  
"I don't know why. It was nothing that I hadn't heard before." She started "But I was already missing him a little, you know. The last party I went to he saved my life." He didn't say anything, he just wanted to let her talk "And I don't know, maybe I was a little sensitive and I'd had enough of them saying things like that. But I just lost it. I started shouting and then Emily pulled me away."  
"Everyone has a limit of how much shit they can take before it gets too much. Most people would have snapped days ago. Maybe even weeks." She smiled but he was pretty certain that he hadn't helped, not really.

They stopped at the end of her garden path and she turned to face him.  
"Thank you, for walking me home." She swung his jacket off of her shoulders "And for your jacket. It means a lot that you actually care."  
"What do you mean?"  
"When we first met you started asking questions about John right away. I thought you were just using me to get to him." She looked nervous, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him this "It kind of felt like I was just a tool. But then you spend the time talking to me and getting me out into the world again. And you do things like this." She waved at the coat, which he was holding in his hand "I just don't know what to make of you."

Connor took a deep breath before he replied, this might not end well for him. But he wasn't going to lie to her.  
"When I met you… I wouldn't say you were a tool but you were definitely a means to an end." He started slowly "And at first I wanted to keep it that way. I've been fighting this war a long time, I've lost people. It's easier if you remain unattached, you don't get hurt as much. But I needed you to trust me, so I needed to be your friend." He pulled his jacket back on casually "But then I found myself liking you. And Mark. And rather than just pretending I found myself thinking of you as friends. I do care, Sarah. And to be perfectly honest, that scares me."  
"That sounds like a lonely way to live." She told him matter-of-factly. She'd put her hands on her hips and was almost glaring at him.  
"It is. But it's a good way to stay alive." He replied bluntly.  
"What changed?" she asked calmly. He could see her shivering and stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing his hands on her back.  
"I can see the end." He said after a moment thinking "Before it just seemed like an endless cycle of running, hiding and killing. But now we're starting to come together, we're starting to fight back. And it doesn't seem so endless anymore. Maybe I just don't want to be on my own when we've finished."

Sarah's phone beeped a text alert but she ignored it.  
"You won't be alone. You'll have me and Mark and John. And the others will come soon enough. And when we win this fight we'll all be together." Her phone went off again and she pulled it out of her pocket as Connor replied.  
"I love your endless optimism. I've spent too long in the darkness, I think I needed someone like you to show me the light again." She looked away from her phone but her eyes were drawn back to it as it went off again "Who is it?" the phone fell from her hands and Connor caught it with his mind.  
"It's him." She whispered "He's here."

Connor stared at her for a minute before he slowly handed the phone back to her. He couldn't believe what she'd just told him, even though he knew that it would happen eventually.

"What's he said?"  
"He wants to meet me at the park." Connor grimaced slightly, surely the FBI were monitoring her phone. He glanced over to the truck that was almost permanently parked across the road from her house. He knew that it was an FBI surveillance vehicle, probably with a tap on all of her family's phones.  
"What are you going to do?" he asked her even though he knew what she was going to say.  
"I'm going."

The two of them walked to the park together but Connor didn't follow her to the swings. He stopped in the trees to wait for her signal, not that he was expecting to have the time for her to get that far into her conversation with him.

He watched as the two of them met and kissed and then they seemed to talk about something for a while. Connor was distracted when his phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that the computer program that he had running looking for information on the Garde had just found an article from a Spanish newspaper.

He was about to open it up and start to read when the darkness that he was lurking in was lit up by flashing blue and red lights. Cars that had looked unoccupied burst to life and men armed with machine guns stormed the park, throwing gas grenades first. Connor saw them pile onto the two boys who were talking with Sarah. One was John, Connor had to assume the other was Sam Goode, who the Feds thought John and Henri had kidnapped but who Connor knew had gone with John willingly to try to find his dad.

Sarah was carried away by one of the men and he watched as she was escorted away from the park by two police officers. He wanted to talk to her but he wouldn't be surprised if he got arrested just for trying it right then. The police were probably feeling a little jumpy.

He watched as John and Sam were loaded into the back of a van which was led out of town in a convoy. He knew that he probably should go after him but he couldn't shake this feeling in his gut that he needed to talk to Sarah, to make sure that she was alright.

In the end his gut won out over his head.

Rather than approach her house from the front he sneaked through the trees at the back until he was standing at the fence to her backyard. He climbed over the fence and sneaked up to the back of the house. He sprinted at the wall and pushed off of it, grabbing hold of the sill underneath Sarah's window and pulling himself up.

He pushed the window open with his telekinesis and climbed through. Sarah must have seen him in the mirror of her dresser but she didn't turn around, she just continued sitting at the dresser and playing with her hair, all the while looking at his reflection.

"Are you alight?" he asked straight away. She was sitting on the stool in front of her dresser, casually playing with her hair, her thoughts clearly somewhere else.  
"They took him." She replied, her voice barely a whisper "They took him and it's all my fault."  
"Why's it your fault?" he asked "You wanted to go and see your boyfriend. That seems reasonable to me. If it's anyone's fault it's his for coming to see you in the first place and the FBI's for being dumb enough to think he's a terrorist." She smiled a little but he could see that she was still hurting.  
"Why aren't you going after him?" she asked suddenly.  
"Six has it covered." He replied confidently. He hadn't even seen the other Garde but he knew deep down that she wouldn't leave her friend locked up in federal custody "I have another lead."  
"A lead on what?"  
"A woman in a town called Santa Teresa in Spain has been cured of an incurable degenerative disease." He'd managed to read the article on his way to Sarah's house.  
"You think it's a Garde?"  
"I've known for a while that the Mogs were tracking one of us in Spain. I think this is them. And if the Mogs are already tracking them they'll need help sooner rather than later."

"So you're leaving?" she turned around on her stool to look at his face. Her hands had stopped playing with her hair and she was resting them on her lap.  
"I am." He paused, debating with himself whether he wanted to say his next words "I want you to come with me." She gasped and he almost had to keep her quiet again in case her parents heard.  
"Why?"  
"Because I think you need to get out of Paradise." She looked confused so he elaborated "You're caged here. You know something's going on and you want to help but you can't do that as long as you're stuck in this small town." She looked like she was considering it and he smiled inwardly "And you might just get to see John sooner." He didn't tell her that he thought the Mogadorians would come after her once they knew how important she was to John. He didn't tell her that they might take her from her family and torture her for information about him. He kept that information to himself.

"But what can I do?" she asked "I'm just a human. I can't fight them."  
"I can show you how to fight them, if you want. And one human could make the difference between life and death." He grabbed her hands from her lap "And you could be the difference between my sanity and otherwise."

He could see the moment that she made her decision. Her face set and her eyes hardened.  
"How do we get there?"


	3. Chapter 3

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Three**

28 February 2011

Connor looked through the window onto the street that the locals called Calle Principal, which simply meant Main Street. He was only on his second day in Santa Teresa but he already hated the place. It combined the simple town life of Paradise with the absolute, almost blind, faith that he had come to expect from the Mogadorians.

Sarah was sat opposite him, reading a Spanish dictionary. She'd learned almost as soon as they arrived that Connor spoke fluent Spanish and she'd soon got her hands on a dictionary to try and teach herself. Connor helped when he could but he had more important things to worry about to focus all of his attention on her.

He'd spoken to Mrs Ricardo, the woman who'd been cured, and to her son Héctor pretty much as soon as they arrived in the small town. He could tell that the two of them were hiding something from him, that much was obvious when he spoke to them, and if he had to guess he would say that they knew who had cured her but didn't want to say.

Unfortunately, Mrs Ricardo was their only lead and now that they'd struck out with her there wasn't much they could do other than trust that the Garde would reveal herself in time. Connor had taken an educated guess that it was a girl living in the convent just outside of the town. From there he had deduced that it was Number Seven simply because she was the only female Garde unaccounted for. One and Two were both dead and Six wasn't in hiding anymore.

The door to the café opened and he looked up to see Héctor Ricardo enter. By all accounts he had been the town drunk right until his mother was healed. He stopped drinking the very same day according to the locals.

Héctor sat down at a table with a large man with black hair, bushy eyebrows and a large moustache. The two talked quietly together but Connor couldn't hear what they were saying, even with his enhanced hearing.

The waiter came over to ask them about their food and Sarah tried to make conversation in Spanish. Connor half listened as they talked, she was stumbling over her words a lot but she mostly made sense. He was impressed with how quickly she'd picked it up. The staff in the café were quite happy to speak with her once they'd realised that she was trying to learn, they even spoke slower so that she could understand.

He saw the waiter back away a little with an awkward look on his face. He hadn't been paying attention properly so it took him a second to realise what she'd said. He quickly butted into the conversation, letting loose a torrent of words apologising for what she'd said and explaining the mistake to the waiter. He smiled a little weirdly and returned to the kitchen to get the next order.

"What did I say?" Sarah asked. Her face was flushed a little red but Connor imagined it was going to get a lot worse when he'd explained the mistake to her.  
"You just told the waiter that you're horny." He told her bluntly. He'd guessed exactly right, her face went an even brighter shade of red and Connor laughed at her.  
"I meant to say that I'm hot. We were talking about the weather." She said defensively.  
"I know. And so does he." He nodded to the waiter "You meant to say tengo calor not estoy caliente."  
"I won't forget that." She mumbled, closing her dictionary.

Héctor got out of his seat and Connor watched as he headed to the door. A girl who was standing outside turned and ran back up Calle Principal towards the convent. Héctor opened the door and called after her: "Marina!" The girl didn't stop, didn't reply, she just kept running, faster than should be possible.

"I think we just found our Garde." Connor told Sarah "Wait here." Sarah called out in protest but Connor was already out of his seat and pushing past Héctor who was stood in the doorway. He sprinted as hard as he could after Marina but as hard as he tried he couldn't catch up to her.

He turned a corner in the path that lead to the convent and slid to a halt. The side of the mountain was on fire, he didn't know how Marina had missed it.

Normally he would ignore it or maybe even consider it a Mog tactic if it wasn't for the shape that the fire was burning on the mountain. He knew the shape, in fact he was intricately familiar with it. It was the same shape as the scar on his ankle, the one that he got when the charm was cast on him.

The fact that it was a Loric symbol confused him. The Mogadorians wouldn't want to attract other Garde, at least not until after they'd captured Marina. And there was no way that Marina had sent up the bat signal, she was too busy panicking. Maybe her Cêpan had done it, if she even still had a Cêpan. Or maybe they had another ally in Santa Teresa, someone who knew how outnumbered they were and was trying to call for help.

Connor tore his eyes away from the burning symbol and returned to sprinting to the convent. He shouldered the door open without stopping when he arrived and sprinted down the corridors. One of the sisters tried to get in his way but Connor simply jumped over her before she could stop him.

He didn't know where he was going so really he was just running the corridors blind, pushing past anyone who got in his way. He was just about to give up and stop to ask someone if they'd seen her when he heard an explosion down a corridor to his right.

He sprinted down the corridor and as he did the black, metal bracelet that he wore on his left wrist slid down his arm so that it was over his hand and then expanded so that he was holding a black longbow in his hand. At the same time a quiver full of arrows appeared over his right shoulder.

He drew an arrow and fitted it to his string without stopping sprinting. He could see a Mogadorian Scout standing on the roof with a sword in his hand. The Mogadorian was pale, so pale that Connor doubted that he'd ever been out in the sunlight. He was wearing a black trench coat over sleek, Mogadorian body armour and had sunglasses covering his eyes. He was looking down at someone that Connor couldn't see, pointing his sword at them. He hoped that it was Marina.

He fired his arrow at the Mogadorian and smiled to himself when it sailed true, landing right over its heart. Right before the Mog disintegrated its mouth dropped open and Connor saw its teeth had been filed to a point.

Then the Mog turned to ash which was blown away on the wind and Connor slowed down.

Someone stepped out of the doorway from the room the Mog had been looking in and Connor stopped completely, smoothly raising his bow in front of him.

"Marina?" he asked the girl who was standing there.  
"Who are you?" she asked. A woman stepped out behind her. She was wearing the uniform of a nun but her head wasn't covered. Even in the strange clothes and with the way her hair was greying Connor still recognised her.  
"Adel?"  
"Number Ten." The woman gasped as she recognised him, clearly not expecting company.  
"You're Garde?" Marina asked, not believing it either.  
"Don't call me Ten." Connor told them as he strode towards them, lowering his bow "My name is Connor."  
"What are you doing here?" Adel asked.  
"Saving you. Are you ready to go? That Mog won't be alone."  
"What about my chest?" Marina asked. Connor frowned, he knew that they shouldn't leave it but they really didn't have the time to get it.

"There's no time." Adel answered for him. She turned away from Marina to look at him "Do you have a plan?"  
"Run as fast as we can and hope that another Garde answers your signal." He replied. He grabbed Adel in his telekinetic grasp before hurling her in the air. He jumped onto the roof and caught Adel in his arms, lowering her to the ground gently.

A beam cracked behind them and Connor dropped to his knees, spinning to face the Mog who'd shot at them. He drew an arrow and fired it at the Mog long before he had the time to fire his second shot.

"Run. Head to the mountains. There's a cave there that we can use." He told them as he sprinted over to them.  
"That cave's a dead end." Marina told him bluntly.  
"Not to me." She frowned but followed him anyway, the two of them leading the way and Adelina following. Connor and Marina dropped down to the ground before they both worked together to float Adel to the ground.

Connor took a look around for any Mogadorians before tapping Marina on the shoulder. She started sprinting and he followed, allowing her to lead him to the cave that was going to be their escape.

They were about halfway there when a blaster shot flew past them. Connor looked over his shoulder and saw that the Mogs who were chasing them were gaining on them quicker than Connor would have liked.

They reached the cave to find two Mogadorians standing outside of it. They were larger than the others and carried swords and blasters. They were the soldiers, the ones that were bred to fight and kill his people.

Connor loosed an arrow and it struck the first soldier in the eye. Before he'd even turned to ash Marina hurled the second one into the air with her telekinesis. He crashed to the ground with enough force to be immediately dusted.

Connor forged through the ash with the others right behind him and blaster fire zipping over their shoulders. There was a high pitched whistling sound that followed them as they sprinted into the cave, followed closely by an explosion as one of the Mogs fired a rocket at them.

A shockwave hit them from behind, hurling the three of them into the cave and cutting off the only source of light on the inside. Connor landed hard on the floor and someone landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him.

He felt hands groping around on top of him, looking for something that they could use to push themselves to their feet. One of the hands brushed against his bare arm and he felt a static shock jump between them.

He used his telekinesis to lift them to their feet before slowly pushing himself into a standing position, cautious that he couldn't see anything in the pitch darkness.

Except that wasn't entirely true. His vision was slowly starting to return, as though his eyes were getting used to the low light.

"I can see." He muttered, more to himself than to either of his companions.  
"Did you say something?" Adel asked.  
"Yeah," he replied, louder this time "I can see. But I shouldn't be able to."  
"Maybe you're developing a new Legacy, like me. I have night vision." Marina told him casually.  
"Maybe. It's just a little late. I've not developed a new Legacy in years."  
"Now isn't the time." Adel reminded them as the cave shook. Clearly the Mogs were forcing their way through the impromptu cave-in "How do we get out of here?"

Connor walked up to the wall, which he could now see clearly. There was a painting of John Smith on it. He placed his hand to the wall and the others watched as the rock slid away, revealing a tiny indent about the size of a doorway. Connor stepped forwards and the rock in front of him slid away as he drew close to it, making a tunnel.

The cave shook and Connor looked over his shoulder, beckoning the others to follow him. As they stepped into the tunnel the cave shook again and a shaft of light split through the darkness. Connor closed the tunnel entrance just in time as a Mogadorian soldier barged into the cave.

"Is Adel your Loric name?" Marina asked Adelina as they walked down the tunnel which Connor was creating.  
"It is. I haven't used it in a long time."  
"I can call you your human name if you want." Connor offered from in front.  
"No, I like Adel. It reminds me of where I came from. Why we're fighting." They fell into silence for a second before Marina asked her next question.  
"Why don't you like to be called Ten?" Connor frowned for a moment. He hadn't been expecting the question, he needed some time to formulate an answer.  
"Because it isn't my name." he replied slowly "I'm Ten because I was last to the ship. If I'd have been quicker I could have been Seven or Four or One. And I don't want to be reminded why I was the last to the ship. That is something that I'd rather forget."  
"Why were you last?" Marina spoke softly but he could hear how eager she was.  
"That's a story for a different time." Adel replied for him. She knew why he was last, all of the Cêpan on the ship did, and he appreciated that she was keeping his story for him to tell.

Connor used the tunnel to get them as close to the town as he could but it was basically just a guess, he had no way of knowing how close they'd gotten. The last slab of rock slid down and Connor smiled, he'd been spot on. They could see the town in front of them.

Connor had no doubt that the town would be crawling with Mogs but Sarah was waiting for him there, he had to get to her. He'd promised her that he would look after her and he wasn't planning on breaking that promise so soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Four  
**

28 February 2011

Connor walked into town with Adel to his right and Marina to his left. He'd given the girl his Loralite ring so that the Mogs wouldn't recognise her but they were just going to have to hope that they didn't know what Adel looked like.

They all knew that the chances were slim.

Connor led them through to the café where he'd left Sarah, praying that she had done what he said and stayed there.

They sneaked up a side alley which Marina said came out opposite the café. Connor saw Sarah inside, sitting with Héctor, the man that Marina ran from in the café earlier and a girl Connor guessed was about eleven.

Marina grabbed his arm and yanked him back down the alley. He looked around wildly, thinking that she'd seen a Mogadorian.  
"The man in the café…" she whispered "He's one of them." Connor whirled around and looked at them again. He couldn't see much of the man she was talking about, his back was to the window, but him being a Mogadorian didn't feel right.  
"Look under the table." Adel pointed. Connor's eyes drifted down to where she was pointing and went wide when they saw the Loric chest, tucked away, mostly out of sight.

"Stay here." Connor told them "I'm going to introduce myself." He stepped out into the street and cast his eyes around, looking for anyone who looked out of place. He couldn't see anyone but he was certain that the Mogadorians were nearby, he could feel them.

The bell jingled as he opened the door and everyone inside looked up at him. Sarah broke out into a smile and got out of her seat, walking over and hugging him.  
"I was worried about you." She told him. He pulled away from her and dragged her over to the side of the room, trying not to look like anything was wrong to the others "What's wrong?"  
"Marina thinks that man is a Mogadorian." He flicked his eyes towards the table and Sarah caught the look. She frowned and shook her head.  
"He said he's from Lorien." Now it was Connor's turn to frown. The Mogadorians had never tried anything like this before "And so is Ella. Come and talk to them." She moved towards the table and tugged on his arm a little. He let her pull him over to them.

"Senor Ricardo, a pleasure." He greeted Héctor. He'd spoken to him about his mother's miraculous recovery when he first came to Santa Teresa.  
"Senor Young, have you met Senor Crayton?" Héctor asked, indicating the man that Connor couldn't see from outside. He held out his hand and Crayton took it firmly.

"I hear you aren't from around here." Connor started.  
"I could say the same about you." The two men made eye contact and the other three people at the table shifted awkwardly as they stared each other down "Show him, Ella." Connor turned his gaze to the girl and watched as she started to change. She shrank in her chair and her features became a little rounder and more childish. When everything settled and stopped changing she no longer looked eleven, more like six or seven.  
"I'll take that as proof."

Nobody said anything for a second until Connor kicked the chest softly under the table.  
"Is that yours?" he was looked at Ella but Crayton answered.  
"It's Marina's. We got it out but we couldn't find her." Connor smiled.  
"I got her out but we didn't have the time to get this." He glanced over Crayton's shoulder at the alley where Marina and Adel were hiding and frowned. There were two Mogadorians sneaking up behind them and they hadn't noticed yet.

He jumped from his seat so quickly that he knocked his chair over. He vaulted the table and smashed straight through the window, sprinting across the street at the two Mogs. They started to raise their blasters but he was passed Marina and Adel and on the Mogs before they had chance to react.

He kicked the blaster out of the first Mog's hand before he got a chance to use it and then spun around, using the momentum from his spin to kick the Mog in the stomach. He stumbled backwards into a spike of rock which had rose out of the ground behind him. He turned to ash as the second one brought his blaster to bear on Connor.

He was about to yank the blaster from the Mog's hand with telekinesis when someone dashed past him and attacked the second Mog. He watched as Adel slashed a kitchen knife over the Mog's stomach. It was a vicious blow but not enough to kill it. She grabbed the Mog behind the head and tried to thrust her blade into its heart. The Mog raised its blaster as they struggled and before Connor had time to react he pulled the trigger.

A beam of blue light struck Adel right in the chest and Connor knew right away that she was dead. She stopped fighting and the Mog tossed her to the side. Connor charged at him and picked him up by the throat, hoisting him into the air.

He squeezed and squeezed and the Mog dropped his blaster in favour of grabbing at Connor's hand and trying to get him to let go. It didn't work, Connor was too strong for him and he was far too determined to kill this Mog. Eventually the scout stopped struggling and went limp in his hand. A second later he turned to ash which blew over him, covering him from head to toe.

He turned around and saw Marina cradling the body, her head buried in Adel's shoulder. The others had come out of the café and were standing at the end of the alley, watching. Connor knelt beside Marina and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know you don't want to hear this but we need to leave. The Mogadorians will have heard the blaster go off." He told her calmly.  
"I can't leave her." Connor had been expecting this and he'd already come up with a solution.  
"We'll bury her when we get out of town." He promised "It'll have to be quick though." Marina looked at him and smiled, but it was a sad smile, one of grief and anger.

He helped Marina to her feet and looked around their little group.  
"How many weapons do you have?" he asked Crayton.  
"Two rifles and a couple of pistols." He replied.  
"Give Héctor a rifle. Sarah, do you still have that pistol I gave you?" the girl reached behind her and pulled a pistol out of her waistband. Crayton pulled a rifle out of the suitcase that he was dragging behind him and handed it to the man. Connor held his hand out and the Mogadorian blaster slapped into it. He held it out to Marina and she took it gingerly.

"I'll carry Adel." He told them "You need to cover me. I'll bring the real fight once we've buried her." Nobody said anything but there were various nods of agreement "We've got a helicopter nearby. It'll hold all of us at a push. Sarah can lead the way. Marina go with her."

The group trooped out of the alley and into the main street. They moved down it, all of them glancing furtively around, looking for any sign of the Mogs other than the dead Cêpan in Connor's arms.

They were out of the town when they spotted their first Mogs. Crayton mowed down the three of them before they could even react but his gunfire was sure to attract more attention.  
"Run!" Connor shouted. None of them argued, they all just did as instructed. They headed straight for the tree line even as the Mogs burst out of the town and opened fire.

Connor was the first to reach the trees. He placed Adel on the ground and turned around, his bow appearing in his hand as he did. He fired arrow after arrow at the army that was emerging from the town, attempting to slaughter his friends.

He kept raising rock shields behind his friends, trying to stop the worst of the blaster shots from hitting them. It worked but it meant that he had to slow down how quickly he was firing back to raise the shields and divert shrapnel after they were destroyed.

The Mogadorians were moving forwards as they were firing and Connor was just waiting for them to get close enough. His friends passed into the trees and Crayton tried to turn to help but Connor waved him off, shouting that he needed to keep the others safe.

Crayton was about to protest but the first line of Mogs was close enough. A row of rock spikes erupted from the ground, skewering a dozen Mogadorians. Crayton saw that Connor had it and resumed running after the others.

The Mogs swarmed past the spikes and Connor smirked viciously. The spikes exploded sending shards of rock flying in all directions, taking out at least another dozen Mogs. The others hesitated and Connor used the break that gave him to his advantage. A hole appeared at his feet and he gently used his telekinesis to lower Adel's body into it. Once she was resting comfortably on the bottom the hole closed itself up, entombing her forever. Connor had the rock on top form a tiny Loric symbol so that if they ever came back they could find her.

The Mogs started swarming forwards again and this time Connor decided not to fight, he turned and sprinted the other way. He could see the others just ahead of him. They were running at Sarah and Héctor's pace, which was much slower than Connor knew the Loric could run.

Blaster fire arced through the air around them and Connor knew that he was going to have to do something drastic if they were ever going to get away from the Mogadorians.

He stopped running and turned to face them, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to do. He waited until they were practically on top of him before slamming his hand to the ground.

Nothing happened at first but Connor held his hand flat on the ground and concentrated. He felt the ground shake a little and knew that it was working. A crack appeared underneath one of the Mogs and slowly started to grow bigger and bigger, a web of cracks spreading out underneath them.

The Mogs looked at the ground and started to shuffle around nervously. They shouted at each other in Mogadorian before turning and pointing their blasters at Connor. The earth shook as they opened fire and their shots missed by quite a distance.

There was a cracking sound and the cracked ground that the Mogadorians were standing on started to fall away, revealing Connor's masterwork underneath. He'd created a canyon which spread as far as he could see in either direction.

One of the Mogs fell into the pit with a horrible scream and that was when the others started to panic. One started to run but he put his foot on a piece of rock as it fell into the canyon. He yelled and one of his comrades tried to catch him. They both fell into the chasm that Connor had created underneath them.

Some of them fired at him but Connor deflected the shots with his telekinesis, dusting some of the Mogs with their own weaponry. A group of them sprinted away towards the far side of the canyon but Connor didn't wait to see if they'd made it. He simply turned and ran as fast as he could towards where they'd landed the helicopter.

He caught up with the others just as they reached the clearing where the helicopter was landed.

They crouched in the trees, looking out for any signs that there was something wrong. Connor knew better than most that you could never be too careful with the Mogadorians. There was a very real chance that they'd found the helicopter and were lying in wait for them to arrive.

"Where's the pilot?" Sarah asked him.  
"I don't know. But this doesn't look good." He replied.  
"Can you fly that?" Marina asked, her eyes fixed on the helicopter.  
"I can." Crayton replied for him. Connor looked at him and the man nodded in confirmation.

"Everyone stay here." Connor told them "I'm going to go out there and make sure it's safe." He strode out of the bushes and his bow expanded into his hand once more.

He poked around the helicopter but couldn't see anything that looked out of place, apart from the obvious fact that the pilot was nowhere in sight.

He stepped away and took one last look around the clearing, checking for any sign that the Mogadorians had found them.

He was just about to call the others over when he heard a rapid beeping sound coming from the helicopter. He realised what it was a second too late.

The helicopter exploded and the shockwave sent him flying through the air. He landed on his back about 300 yards from the smoking ruins of the helicopter that was their only way out.

A shadow fell over him and Connor looked up to the sky to see a Mogadorian ship, silver and shaped like a teardrop, rise above the trees and glide into the clearing. It set down right by his head, the pointy end pointing away from him, and he pushed himself to his knees as the flawless silver surface opened and a ramp slid down to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Five**

28 February 2011

Ten soldiers marched down the ramp, blasters in hand, as another three Mogadorian transports land in the clearing and disembarked troops. He heard a scuffle behind him and saw that the troops had found his friends hiding in the trees and were pushing them into the open towards them. One of the soldiers carried Marina's chest and some of the others carried the weapons that they'd taken from them.

His friends were pushed to their knees a few meters behind him and the soldiers formed a perimeter around them.

There was a noise from the first ship that landed and Connor looked up to see another Mogadorian standing at the top of the ramp. He started to walk down the ramp and two more Mogadorians appeared behind him.

All three of them looked similar, their eyes were as black as their hair, which they'd pulled back into ponytails to display the intricate Mogadorian tattoos on their head. The first was larger than the other two and his tattoos were more intricate. He carried no weapons but still wore the sleek black armour of the Mogadorians. The two behind him each carried a blaster in their hands and had a sword hung on their hips.

Behind the three Mogadorians came a beast. It was about the size of a wolf and looked like a dog, except for the fact that its eyes were a sickly yellow and it had no hair. Its mouth was open slightly, showing its teeth, which looked like they were too large to properly fit in its mouth.

"Number Ten" the leader addressed him "We've been looking for you." He stopped in front of Connor and looked down at him. His face curled into something that could have been disgust.  
"Why? Did I forget to invite you to my birthday?" Connor replied sarcastically.  
"I am General Caradoc Tyranicus. These are my sons, Commanders Cassius and Carnelius." He knelt down in front of Connor and placed a hand under his chin, forcing him to look into his eyes "We met once before, on Lorien. Do you remember?"

It was like he had no control over his mind. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop the memory rushing up on him and engulfing him.

He remembered watching as Rory, his Cêpan, crawled along the ground with one hand, the other clutching at the wound in his stomach. A Mogadorian walked after him and Connor recognised him immediately: it was the General. He remembered Rory shouting out to his younger self: 'Andros! Run, Andros!' That had been his name then, his Loric name, Andros. His younger self was frozen in place, forced to watch as the General picked Rory up and tore his throat out with his bare hands. The General turned and moved towards the younger Loric, who was frozen in place. There was a blur of light and the Mogadorian was knocked off of his feet right before the blur scooped Andros into its arms and spirited him away to the ship.

The memory faded and Connor found himself kneeling on the ground, staring into the eyes of the monster that killed his Cêpan. Anger built up inside of him and he did the only thing that he could think of.

He spat in the General's face.

Caradoc smirked and pulled his hand away from Connor's chin. He thought he'd gotten away with his act of defiance for a second as the General wiped the spit from his face. But then the General backhanded him across the face so hard that he was knocked to the floor.

"Killing you was meant to be my finest moment. But you escaped me on Lorien and I have spent the last ten years on this pitiful planet, hunting you down as punishment for my failure." The General's face split into a wide grin and Connor shivered as he pushed himself back to a kneeling position "But soon our Beloved Leader will arrive and the conquest of Earth shall begin. Mogadorian Progress will reach Earth and the pathetic humans will be elevated."  
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Connor asked. His voice dripped with sarcasm and the General frowned.  
"Keep up your bluster, boy. You will die here but not before you watch my pet feed on your friends." The General patted the demon-dog on the head and Connor silently cursed himself, he'd forgotten about the beast.

A drop of rain splashed on Connor's head and he looked up to the sky to see storm clouds rolling in. That was weird, the sky had been perfectly clear earlier, what had caused this sudden change to the weather.

There was a roll of thunder and that was when it clicked. Sarah had told him that Number Six could control the weather. He laughed to himself, loudly, and the General stopped and looked at him like he was crazy.

"You find your friends' demise funny, Number Ten?" Connor stopped laughing and looked the General in the eye, an idiotic grin plastered on his face.  
"My name…" he breathed slowly "Is Connor." He slammed his hand into the ground and the ship that the General had arrived in was torn apart as five giant spikes of rock burst out of the ground and skewered through it. At the same time lightning rained down from the sky, striking the soldiers that stood around them. The soldiers panicked but one of the General's sons stepped forwards and started barking orders at them, reasserting some order.

Connor rose to his feet and delivered an uppercut to the bottom of the General's chin. The force of the punch should have at least made Caradoc flinch, it would have been enough to put most people on their back but the General didn't even move.

The Mogadorian let out a primal roar of rage and shoved Connor in the chest with both hands. The force that the General exerted was ridiculous and Connor found himself flying through the air, trying to use his telekinesis to soften his landing. He rolled backwards as soon as he landed, ignoring the pain that shot through his back, and pushed himself to his feet.

He slammed his foot on the ground and the General looked around as a rock wall shot out of the ground around them, cutting them off from the rest of the combatants in this battle.  
"Are you sure that cutting yourself off from your friends is a good idea?" The General asked  
"They won't be able to save you from me now."  
"I don't need my friends to beat you." Connor snarled "I don't even need my Legacies to beat you."  
"Your confidence is your weakness, boy. I killed older and more experienced Garde than you. Loridas fell by my hand. You think you can stand up to me?"  
"Let's find out." Connor charged forwards and so did the General. They closed the distance between them in seconds and as they drew closer Connor bounced to the right, hoping to move behind his adversary. Caradoc had expected the move and he thrust his arm out to his left, right into Connor's path. Connor didn't have the time to avoid it, his neck struck the Mogadorian's arm with enough force that he was flipped through the air.

He used his telekinesis to land on his knees but he wasn't in any state to do anything to block the General's next attack, he was still gasping for breath from where his neck collided with the Mog's arm. Caradoc kicked him in the stomach with enough force to once more having him flying through the air, this time with his breath completely knocked out of him.

He landed on the rock wall that he'd created and his eyes widened as he saw the General had jumped after him. The Mogadorian was sure to crush him in one blow if he landed on him.

Connor dropped to the floor and rolled under the General even as a thin spike of rock shot out of the wall right where the General was going to land.

The spike buried itself in Caradoc's shoulder, holding him in the air about a foot off of the ground. Connor rose to his feet and backpedalled, putting as much distance between himself and the General as he could.

Caradoc brought both of his fists crashing down onto the spike with enough force to smash it. He dropped to the floor, landing on his feet, and slowly turned to face Connor. He grabbed the spike, which was still buried in his shoulder, and slowly pulled it out, his facing curling into a disturbing grimace as it slid from his body.

Connor was still struggling to get his breath back, he wasn't sure that he was going to be able to avoid whatever the General had in store for him next.

Caradoc hurled the stone through the air towards him. Connor's eyes followed it as it twisted through the air, turning end over end on its deadly path towards him. The rock exploded and hundreds of tiny shards of rock continued on their journey towards him. He diverted them around him with his telekinesis just in time to see the General charging towards him.

Connor launched the hundreds of razor sharp pieces of rock right back at his adversary but the huge Mogadorian barely seemed to notice as his skin started to bleed. He continued on his charge and Connor dived to the side. He was in the air when Caradoc reached him. He felt the shoulder strike his stomach and he was launched backwards into the wall again. This time he dropped straight to the floor, gasping for breath.

A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see that the General was looking down at him with what could only be described as a smug look.  
"I told you that you shouldn't have cut yourself off from your friends." Connor rolled onto his stomach and pushed off of the floor, raising himself to his knees. Caradoc laughed as he saw Connor's arms shaking from having to hold his weight. He kicked Connor in the stomach, flipping him so that his back hit the rock wall of his own creation.

"Stay down, boy, and I'll make this quick for you." The General threw something in the air casually and Connor realised that he was holding a dagger. One blow from that and he would be too weak to fight. As it was he was starting to get his breath back, if he could just stall for a little longer he could fight back.

The General caught the dagger and knelt next to Connor, pressing the tip of the weapon to his chest, right above his heart.  
"Beloved Leader will be pleased when I deliver your pendant to him." Caradoc lifted the Loralite pendant out from under Connor's shirt with the blade of the dagger.  
"Beloved Leader can go to Hell." Connor spat out. He thrust with all of the telekinetic power that he could muster, sending the General flying through the air.

Connor slowly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the pain jolting through his sides. He was pretty certain that he'd broken at least a rib, maybe a couple.

He leaned on the wall with one hand, the other clutching at his chest. The General climbed to his feet and it was hard to tell that Connor had even landed a blow. The huge Mogadorian moved like he hadn't been hurt at all.

Caradoc flipped the dagger in the air, caught it by the blade and hurled it through the air towards Connor with incredible speed. Connor squinted and focussed all of his energy on stopping that blade before it could hit him.

He could see the speed falling away as the weapon got closer and closer to him but it didn't look like it was going to stop before it hit him. He backed up until his back was pressed flat against the wall and breathed in to make himself as small a target as possible.

The dagger stopped about a centimetre from his neck and Connor plucked it out of the air, sighing in relief.

He looked at the General and realised that the man was ready to go another round.

Connor definitely wasn't ready to go for another round. Every movement caused pain to shoot through his body and every time he breathed he winced in pain.

The General smirked, clearly he thought that he'd already won. He charged forwards and Connor knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way. He pulled his arm back and whipped it forwards, releasing the dagger with all of his telekinetic energy built up behind it. The blade buried itself in the General's shoulder and this time Connor was satisfied to see him flinch backwards but he didn't slow down his charge.

Connor tensed his body, preparing to take a hit that he knew could kill him, and drew on his final Legacy, the one that he hoped was going to save his life. A swirling mass of purple energy appeared in front of him and wrapped itself around his body, creating a glowing purple energy that he hoped would absorb the brunt of the damage.

Caradoc hit him so hard that he was lifted off of his feet and his back smashed into the wall behind him. He heard the tell-tale sound of rock cracking and knew that his wall was starting to give in. Luckily the energy that was protecting him had done its job, he hadn't felt a thing, although he was certain that it still would have done some damage.

He could see his vision starting to fade away as the battle finally took its toll on him. He focussed all of his energy into one last attack, his one chance of saving himself from otherwise certain death.

The same purple energy that had protected him from the General's charge formed around both of his hands and then extended outwards, forming two swords which were, for all intents and purposes, a part of him.

He thrust both blades down through the General's back right to the fist.

The General roared in pain and Connor felt his arms, which were wrapped around Connor's side, pinning him to the wall, go slack. His vision was a tiny pinprick now, he was almost completely gone, but he was still aware enough to perform one last act of resistance.

With a roar he unleashed a blast of telekinetic energy in a bubble around him. The rock wall that the General had pressed him against shattered and Connor fell backwards even as the General was launched in the other direction.

Connor landed on the floor and grunted as pain started in his ribs and shot through his whole body. He heard someone approaching him but he had finally succumbed to the darkness and was unable to tell even if they were friend or foe.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Six**

2 March 2011

Connor was woken by a sharp, stabbing sensation in his side. He sat bolt upright in his bed, his eyes roaming around the room, looking for whoever was harming him.

His eyes widened in surprise when he didn't see any Mogadorians, rather he saw two girls. Sarah was the one by his side, trying to wrap a bandage around his chest where he'd broken his ribs. Ella was curled in the chair at the bottom of the bed, her eyes fixed on the two of them.

"Where are we?" he asked as soon as he realised that he was safe.  
"We're in a motel in Salamanca." Sarah replied "We had to steal a car from Santa Teresa to get you here."  
"Please tell me you got rid of the car." A slight panic gripped him at the thought of them keeping hold of something that the Mogs could track them with.  
"Of course we got rid of it." Sarah replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world "I dumped it in the river."  
"That's good. But it still won't keep them off of us for long. We need to get out of here." He tried to get out of the bed but Sarah put a hand on his chest and pushed him backwards gently.  
"You aren't in any state to be travelling yet. At least let me bandage you up before you panic." He studied her expression once before nodding. There was no point in arguing with Sarah Hart when she looked like that.

"How long was I out?" he asked instead as Sarah returned to wrapping the bandages around his chest.  
"Two days." Ella replied "We've been hiding here since the battle." The girl looked lost and he could probably guess why.  
"No sign of Crayton or the others?" Ella shook her head.  
"Papa wanted to go to India after we found Marina. But he wouldn't leave without me."  
"Unless he thought you were safe." Connor told her as gently as he could "His chances of finding you here are slim. Not to mention the Mogs will be searching around here. If I was him, and I knew you were with another Garde, I'd have gone to India."  
"You think he'd leave without me?" her voice almost cracked as she spoke and Connor gently pushed Sarah away so that he could get off of the bed and walk up to her. He dropped to his knees in front of her chair and before he knew it she'd flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"I think that if he thought for even a second that you were in danger he'd tear this town apart to find you. But he knows that you're safe with me, so he's going to stick to his plan. Maybe he hopes that you'll do the same and we'll find him in India."  
"Can we?" Ella asked.  
"If you can tell me whereabouts in India we're going I can get us there." He felt the girl shake her head against his chest "I don't think going to India is the best move right now. Without knowing where to find the others it'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack."  
"Then what should we do?" Sarah asked from where she was sitting on the bed.  
"I don't know." He lifted Ella in the air and turned to face the other girl, grunting as the young Garde wrapped her legs around him and caught his damaged ribs "I have been unconscious for a few days. I'll need some time to decide what to do next."

He dropped onto the bed with Ella and lay down. The young girl lay next to him, resting her head on his chest.  
"Ella, how did you and Crayton get here?" Connor asked idly. He looped a finger through the girl's auburn hair and twirled a strand around it.  
"Papa brought plane tickets." She replied without thinking. Connor chuckled to himself.  
"I meant to Earth. You weren't on our ship. I'd have remembered if there was a baby on board." He paused for a second "No, it was definitely only the ten of us on the ship."  
"Don't you mean nine?" Ella asked. Connor's face twisted a little in confusion. What was she talking about? "Papa said only nine of you made it to the first ship."  
"Ten of us reached the ship, Ella." He told her gently "What else did Crayton tell you?"

Ella pushed up from where she was leaning on his chest so that she could look him in the eyes.  
"He said that we couldn't make it to the first ship in time so Loridas met us at a second. He told me that Loridas sacrificed himself so that I could take his powers and become the tenth Elder." Connor took a deep breath. He doubted that either of them were going to enjoy this.

"I think Crayton has been lying to you, Ella." He started "You aren't meant to be the tenth Elder. I am."  
"I don't understand." Ella looked him dead in the eye and he could see the defiance there. She didn't want to believe it. He didn't blame her.  
"I was the last to arrive at the ship. I barely got there in time. If I'd have been minutes later the ship would have left without me. The other nine were already there, they had already received the charm. Loridas cast it on me moments before the ship left. As we left the planet I saw him turn and face the General in combat. I saw him die at the General's hand. He didn't give you his power, Ella. He couldn't have." The girl broke down as he spoke and started beating his chest with all her strength. Connor just let her, despite the pain it was causing where they hadn't healed from his fight with the General.

Eventually she stopped punching him and just fell forwards, crying on his chest. He brought his arms up and wrapped her in a tight hug, running soothing patterns on her back with his hands.  
"I should leave." She said once she'd finally stopped crying. She sat up and wiped her eyes, her face set in a sad determination.  
"Why would you do that?"  
"I'm not one of you. I'm an imposter. A fake. I don't belong here."  
"I disagree." He paused, considering how best to go about this "You are one of the eight surviving Loric Garde. You might not have been chosen to be an Elder but that doesn't matter now. There are no Elders, just us, the last survivors of our race. I can't think of anywhere you belong more."

He lifted Ella up and sat her on the bed, next to Sarah, who immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder.  
"I don't believe in fate. I can't say that we were destined to be here together, that we're all here to serve some greater purpose. But I do believe in choice. We were all chosen to be here. Maybe not by the same people but we were all chosen to be saved. And I have to believe that whoever chose us, be that the Elders or not, had a reason for making that choice. I have to believe that we were chosen for a reason because if I don't believe in that simple thing then I can't see any hope of winning this war."

"You want me to stay?" Ella still sounded small and shy and he could have sworn that she'd reverted back to a younger age, although only a year or so younger.  
"The choice is yours. At the end of the day our choices are all we have. But I think you should stay here, with your people. That's where you belong." He thought for a second before reaching down and slipping the black bracelet off of his wrist "I want you to have this. It came from my chest. It's saved my life more times than I care to count. Now it's something to remind you that you're one of us. That you're Loric." He slid the bracelet onto the girl's wrist and they all watched as it resized to fit her.  
"How does it work?" she asked. He could see tears forming in her eyes.  
"I'll show you later." He promised her "Right now I think I know what we need to do."  
"I'm listening." Sarah told him, one eyebrow raised. He looked at her and smiled. She'd put so much trust in him time and time again. She'd left her home and her family on nothing more than his word to help him and John fight a war that, by rights, shouldn't have anything to do with her. And now she was sitting patiently in a crappy motel room treating his wounds and waiting for him to come up with a plan. He just hoped that he didn't let her down.

"My chest." He said simply. The girls looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was. But he didn't think so "The Elders sent us here for a reason. To fight back. But to keep us safe they forced us to split up. They must have known that we'd need a way to find each other when we were ready."  
"You think they put something in your chests." Sarah realised. Connor nodded, a huge grin plastered on his face.  
"It makes sense. They seem to have thought of everything else."  
"Alright. Then where's your chest? How do we get it?"  
"I gave it to a friend to look after for me. I figured that it was safer than carrying it around the world with me. And believe me, those things are not good to be carrying around in battles."  
"Where? In America?" Ella asked "I've never been to America."  
"Then you're in for a treat because we're going to the best city the Americans have to offer." He paused for dramatic effect and played out a drumroll on his legs "New Orleans, Louisiana."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Seven**

3 March 2011

Connor paid the cabby but didn't look at him. He was too busy checking the street for anything that looked out of the ordinary.

The cab drove off and Connor led Sarah and Ella off of a street into a café. They sat down and Connor ordered the three of them drinks from the waiter.

"What are we doing here?" Ella asked him "I thought we were meeting your friend."  
"We will. She lives across the road. I just want to make sure that everything's alright before I speak to her. It's been a while. Anything could have happened."  
"You don't trust your friend?" Sarah asked.  
"If I didn't trust her I wouldn't have left my chest with her." Connor corrected. The waiter brought their drinks over and Connor took a sip of the coke "But the Mogadorians might have found her. And if they did they'll be waiting for me to turn up. They might have already seen us."

"How did you meet her?" Sarah asked, taking a swig of her own drink.  
"When I first landed on Earth there was nobody to look after me." Connor started "I ended up living on the streets. That's where I met Serena. We looked after each other, we had each other's backs." He took a drink and looked out of the window, his eyes fixed on the door to the apartment building across the street "When I developed my first Legacy I was finally able to open the chest. The two of us had been keeping it safe for years. I found a pouch full of rare gems inside. I used them to buy myself a place here, in NOLA. I bought Serena a place to. This place. And then, when I left, I trusted her to look after my chest."

"You live here?" Sarah asked "John always said that it was too dangerous living in cities. He said the Mogs could blend in too easily."  
"He's right. The Mogs thrive in big cities. They might blend in easier but so do we." He looked away from the door and made eye contact with Sarah "John attracted attention on his first day in Paradise. It's impossible for anyone to blend in in small towns." He smiled brightly "There are other… unique advantages to living in NOLA too. I've lived here all my life. As a street rat I made friends. Now I help those friends out and in return they keep an eye out for the Mogs for me. But the biggest advantage of all is where I chose to live. But you'll see about that later."

"We're going to your home?" Ella asked, excited. Connor smiled and turned back to the street.  
"If everything goes according to plan." Connor confirmed. Ella squealed in joy and Connor couldn't help but laugh. Her happiness was infectious.

He stopped when he saw a girl, about his age, walk into the shop under the apartment that he was watching. She was with a boy, also about Connor's age. Her hair was black but she'd dyed the tips purple. His was blonde. He had his arm wrapped around the girl's back. She picked up something from the shop and the two of them walked over to the counter.

That was when Connor saw her for the first time.

Serena.

She was laughing at something that the boy had said, Connor couldn't tell what. She looked the same as he remembered. Tall and lean but not so tall as to be gangly. Her skin was olive coloured and, although he couldn't see them from where he was, he knew that her eyes were an amazing green colour.

"That's her." He pointed her out to the two others "In the store."  
"Who's she with?" Sarah asked.  
"I don't know. A boyfriend, maybe. It's been a while since I saw her."  
"What are we going to do?" Ella watched Serena with a keen interest.  
"I'm going to talk to her." Rather than get up he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He flicked through the contacts and found Serena's number. He hit dial and watched as she reached into her bag to find the ringing phone.

"Hello." She answered when she eventually found her phone.  
"Serena. It's Connor. Can you talk?" There was silence on the other end of the phone and he watched as she froze in place, one hand to her ear the other reaching out for the item that she had brought.  
"Where are you?" she asked him eventually.  
"I can't tell you. Are you compromised?" he asked her. He needed to know if the Mogadorians had found her. He needed to know if she was safe.  
"No. I'm fine. Can we meet?"  
"I'll find you when it's safe. It was good to hear your voice again, Serena."  
"You too, Connor." He hung up the phone placed it down on the table. He turned away from the window casually so that she wouldn't see him if she looked across the street.

"Is everything alright?" Sarah asked. She must have seen the frown on his face.  
"I don't know. Something about her doesn't seem right."  
"What?" Ella looked away from the girl to look at Connor.  
"She didn't sound right. Something was bothering her."  
"Did she say that they'd found her?"  
"No. And she didn't use any of the safe words we agreed. But something feels wrong."  
"What are you going to do?" Sarah asked.  
"For now, nothing. But that might not last very long."

He turned to look back at the store just as Serena and her friend stepped through the doorway into the apartment. Serena looked over the street cautiously before she shut the door and Connor lost sight of her.

He waved over the waiter and ordered them all food and another drink. They were probably going to be there for a while.

They'd been sitting in the café for most of the day when the door to the apartment opened again. It was dark now but Connor could still see perfectly thanks to his new, night vision Legacy. It was the boy who'd gone into the apartment with Serena.

He closed the door behind him and shuffled off down the street, disappearing around the corner.  
"I'm going to go talk to Serena." He told the girls. He handed a wad of cash to Sarah to pay for more food and drinks and then left the café.

He crossed the street, his eyes searching the street for any signs that the Mogadorians were there. He didn't see any so when he reached the door he pushed the buzzer.

There was no noise for a second and then a voice came through the speaker.  
"Hello."  
"Buzz me through, Love." He spoke into the speaker. There was more silence for a second and then there was a click as the door was unlocked. He pulled it open and stepped through, looking down the street one last time and not seeing anything that looked suspicious.

The stairs were poorly lit but that didn't matter to Connor. Even if he couldn't see in the dark he'd climbed these stairs enough times to be able to do it with his eyes closed.

The door was open when he reached the top of the stairwell. He stepped through doorway and immediately saw Serena.

She was sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand. There was another on the coffee table in front of her and he knew that she'd poured it for him. He shut the door behind him and walked over to sit next to her on the sofa.

"What are you doing back?" Serena asked him "I thought you were looking for the others."  
"I found them. And then I kind of lost them." She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off "It's a long story. I need my chest."  
"It's not here." She ploughed on before he could interrupt her "I didn't want to hide it here in case they found me. At least then they wouldn't get that."  
"Fair enough. Where did you hide it?"  
"I'll take you tomorrow. It's not safe in the Bayou at night." Connor frowned. Why would she have hid it in the Bayou? He wanted her to keep it nearby so that she could keep an eye on it. That's why he'd asked her. She couldn't keep an eye on it if she left it in the Bayou.

She rubbed the back of her neck nervously and Connor took the time to study her and the apartment. Something about her seemed different from the last time that he'd seen her. It was the same as when he'd spoken to her on the phone, there was a subtle difference; one so subtle that he didn't even know what it was.

The apartment itself was almost exactly the same as when he'd last been there. The potted plant on the windowsill was different and she had a new painting hanging on the wall. There was something else, too, something that you probably wouldn't notice unless you were looking for something to be wrong.

The rug on the floor had curled up at one corner, showing the floor underneath. It was a slightly darker colour to the rest of the floor because the sun hadn't bleached it quite as much. What really caught his eye was the black mark just visible under the rug. It looked like the floor had been burned.

Connor subtly kicked the rug back a little and frowned at what he saw. The mark was definitely a burn and it was perfectly circular. He could only think of one way to get scorch marks like that.

Mogadorian blasters.

He turned to look back at Serena, who had seen him kick the rug back. Now that he knew that the Mogs had found her it was actually easier to see what was different about her.

Her skin was paler and looked like it had been stretched a little across her bones. Her eyes weren't as bright as he remembered and, perhaps most disturbingly of all, the veins that he could see under her skin weren't blue like they should be.

They were black.

"Why?" That was all he asked. But it was all that he needed to ask. She knew what he meant.  
"I didn't know that it was them at first." She started "They got me hooked on this new drug. They call it MogPro. At first it was just like any other drug, you want it because of how it makes you feel. When I learned that it was the Mogs I tried to go cold turkey but once you come off of this stuff it's like you've aged 20 years. You literally can't live without it. I went back for more. I had no choice."  
"What did they ask you to do for it?" There was no way the Mogs were giving out something like this for free but he could guess what they were asking.  
"They wanted me to tell them when you got in touch."  
"My chest isn't in the Bayou is it?" he asked. She shook her head "How long until they get here?"  
"A couple of minutes. Maybe less. I'm sorry, Connor. I'm so sorry. But I had no choice."  
"It's ok, Serena. It's ok." He wrapped his arms around her for a second "We'll figure a way out of this. I promise."

Serena pushed him backwards and the next thing he knew there was a knife in her hand.  
"You don't have to do this." He told her, his eyes fixed on the blade in her hand. It was a kitchen knife, she must have grabbed it before he got there.  
"It hurts so much." She sobbed "I can't take it anymore." Before he could do anything to stop her she swung the knife around and pushed it through her neck. He moved forwards and grabbed her in his arms, pulling her against him and cradling her in his arms as her blood, slightly black and gloopy, poured all over him.

He felt when the life left her, when she stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating. He wanted to cry. He wanted to hold her in his arms and cry until he had no tears left but he knew that he didn't have the time.

The Mogadorians were already on the way. Serena had told him as much. He needed to get out of there. He wanted to take her with him but he knew that wasn't possible. So instead he had another idea.

He dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a box of matches out of the draw- he opened up the gas on the stove, filling the room with the flammable substance.

This wasn't going to be a fitting funeral for Serena but it was the best that he could give her on such short notice. And at least in her funeral she'd be able to fight back against the Mogadorians.

He heard a noise downstairs and, after a second, realised that the Mogadorians had arrived. They were kicking in the door to get to him.

He took a match out of the box and struck it on the side. The flame leapt to life in his hand and he smiled sadly. He touched it to three places on Serena's green dress even as there was a crash from downstairs. The Mogs were through the door.

He threw the match onto Serena's body and moved over to the window. He didn't bother opening it, he simply smashed it with his elbow and climbed through the gap.

The door to the apartment was kicked open and Connor saw the boy that had been with Serena earlier run through, followed by Carnelius Tyranicus, one of the General's sons.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Eight**

3 March 2011

Connor watched as Carnelius slid to a halt and looked around the kitchen. His hand was wrapped around the hilt of a sword, the same kind of sword that he'd seen many Mogadorians carry before. It was made of a metal that could only be found on Mogadore and it glowed bright enough to fill the room with its light.

Carnelius saw the burning body before he saw Connor. The Garde raised a hand in a mocking salute to the Commander before he vaulted over the railing and landed hard in the street. He looked up at the window and saw the Commander trying to climb through the window. That was the exact moment the apartment exploded.

Carnelius got lucky. The shockwave launched him through the air before the flames roasted him. Connor didn't imagine the other Mogs inside were so lucky. The Commander crashed into the façade of the building opposite and tore straight through the wall.

There was a guttural shouting in the street and he looked around. He wasn't surprised to see that there were two Mogadorians approaching from either end of the street. One of them raised his cannon and Connor shrouded himself in purple energy.

The blast from the cannon reached him and he simply batted it aside, allowing the energy to protect him. The blast hit the ground and shrapnel exploded all around him. The pieces that hit him were disintegrated by the energy that shielded him.

He was surrounded but that didn't really matter to him, it was only four Mogs; he was more than a match for them. He didn't even move, he just stomped his feet (for effect more than anything) and watched as four spikes of rock shot through the tarmac and impaled the four Mogadorians.

Connor turned to face the café where he'd been sitting earlier and watched as Sarah and Ella came out of the café. Sarah was carrying a steak knife in her hand and had the other hand on Ella's head, pushing the girl behind her.

"What happened?" Sarah asked.  
"The Mogs had gotten to her." Connor replied simply "We can't stay here. It's not safe anymore."  
"Where do we go?" Ella sounded frightened, she hadn't expected this to turn into a fight.  
"My place. We can lose them in the Bayou."

Connor heard a roar from the building above him and groaned. The Commander was recovering from his flight across the street.  
"Ella, can you keep up with me if we have to run?" Connor asked.  
"I think so." The girl looked uncertain and he smiled confidently at her.  
"You'll be fine." He looked at the two of them "Now back inside. We need to lose them."

The three of them ducked back into the café where they'd come from and made their way through to the back. There was a door there which led to the kitchen. Connor shoved his way through the staff and out of the back door into an alley. They crossed the alley and ducked through a doorway into the back of a shop.

Connor led them to the front and then peered out into the street, looking for any Mogadorians. He could see two scouts, wearing trench coats to hide their armour and hats and sunglasses to hide their unusual features.

He stepped back into the shop and looked around. Luckily they were in a clothing shop. Connor grabbed them all a change of clothes and they went to the changing rooms.

He handed the store keeper enough money to cover their new clothing and loaded their old clothes into a bag, which he also paid for from the shop.  
"Keep your head's down but try to look natural." He put on a cap and a pair of sunglasses to hide his face. Ella pulled up her hood and Sarah also put on a pair of sunglasses and a cap.  
"Don't you think this looks a little conspicuous?" Sarah asked dryly.  
"Not to the Mogs. They don't really understand human clothing. This will look normal to them." He took both of their hands and together the three of them stepped out into the street.

They walked slowly, as though they weren't anything to do with the explosion that had just occurred a street over. Most of the people in the street had stopped what they were doing and gathered to look at the smoke curling into the sky above what used to be Serena's apartment.

Connor glanced at it once but he knew that it was better not to keep looking at it. Instead he had to keep his eyes on the scouts that he'd seen, making sure that they hadn't been spotted. He also had to keep checking for any other scouts that he'd missed so that they didn't sneak up on them.

They continued like this for a while, skirting around groups of Mogs that they spotted. The city was crawling with them, on their own, in pairs, in groups. Every road had their share of Mogs looking for them, every alley and side street.

But it didn't matter to Connor. He'd lived there all his life. Grew up, literally, on those streets. He knew every shortcut and hiding place. And he'd spent all that time hiding from Mogadorians, avoiding them on these very streets.

There was no way he was going to let them catch him now.

That was another reason that he preferred cities to small towns. No matter how many of them there were they couldn't have scouts everywhere. It simply wasn't possible. To someone who knew the cities it was easy to slip past. But you didn't have that in the small towns. The Mogs could put a squadron on every corner and junction and still create an effective perimeter.

It took them two hours to finally get out of the city. But Connor knew that was the easy part. Now they had to get to the Bayou to really lose the Mogs. And to get there they had to cross a huge expanse of open land.

"This is where we run." He told them. They were crouched down under a tree with low hanging branches, thick enough that the Mogs in the city couldn't see them "I'll carry you, Sarah. You won't be able to keep up otherwise. Ella, you'll just have to sprint as hard as you can and try to keep up. If anything happens; shout and I'll come and get you." The two girls nodded and Connor looked between them, seeing the determination on both of their faces.

He turned around and Sarah climbed onto his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and hung her arms over his shoulders.  
"You ready?" he asked Ella. The little girl nodded. Together the two of them sprinted from the tree that they were hiding under, aiming for the others which marked the start of the Bayou, the New Orleans swamp land.

Connor was surprised at how well Ella kept pace with him. For someone so small she was incredibly fast. He wondered idly if that was her first Legacy showing. The ability to run at super speeds like Liren, the Garde who had saved him from the General on Lorien.

They reached the trees and immediately Connor stopped running so that Sarah could jump off of his back. He turned and looked out at the city only to see that there was nothing following them. The Mogadorians hadn't even seen them.

"Are we safe?" Sarah asked.  
"I think so. But we'll take the long way around, just to be sure." He told them. He looked at Ella "You did a great job, short-stuff. I knew you would." He ruffled her hair with his hand and she pouted at him.

They spent another two hours traipsing through the Bayou, avoiding animals and swamps, taking turns and detours that he hoped would be enough to lose any Mogadorians that might be following them, not that he thought that they were being followed.

Eventually Connor felt happy enough that they were safe from pursuit so he led the girls, both of them tired and dirty, back towards his home.

They stopped at the side of a dirt road which cut through the trees. Connor cast his gaze up and down the road, checking that it was free of observation. Once he was happy that it was he led the girls up the road, none of them leaving the safety of the trees until they reached a red brick wall which rose out of the ground in front of them.

They stepped out onto the road and Connor walked up to the wall. There was a gate in the middle of the road. It was 30 feet tall and ugly, not like the redbrick wall, which looked quite picturesque. But it served a purpose. It would be difficult for the Mogadorian's to break through it, although not impossible.

Next to the gate there was a computer screen, actually built into the column that the gate was attached to. Connor walked up to the screen and typed a code into the keyboard. Then, when the screen flashed green, he placed his hand on the screen and after a second it flashed green again.

Then two options appeared on the screen. Two touch screen buttons. One was a car, the other a man. He tapped the picture of the man and there was a click. A second later a human sized doorway opened in the gate, big enough for two people to walk through side-by-side.

Connor indicated for the girls to go through first and cast his eyes down the road one last time before following them through the door. He pressed his hand to another computer screen on the other side and the gate closed behind him.

The wall ran along to both sides until it was almost impossible to see from where they were standing and then it turned at a right angle and continued on into the distance, boxing them in. The road which had led them up to the gate continued past it, although the trees which had grown thickly beyond the gate were much more sparse here, creating some light shade but little more.

Connor walked to the side of the road and climbed into the driver's seat of the 4x4 there. He pulled the keys from the sun visor and slid them into the ignition. He gave them a twist and smiled as the engine roared to life.

"Hop in!" he called to the two girls "It's a bit of a trek to the house." Sarah climbed in the passenger seat and Ella climbed into the back. Once the doors were shut Connor set off up the road towards the house.

As they got nearer and the house came into focus he heard Ella gasp from the back. He didn't blame her, the house was stunning.

It looked like something straight off a sugar plantation. It was three stories and made from white wood. There was a wraparound balcony on the second floor which could be accessed by the two curved staircases which started in the middle and curved around to meet on a patio on the ground floor. In the middle of the space created by the two stairways there was a wooden table and chairs, as well as a barbeque.

"Welcome to Chez Connor." He announced dramatically as he pulled the car up at the bottom of the stairs "We should be safe here."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Nine**

5 March 2011

"Have you had any more ideas on how to find the others?" Sarah asked. Connor looked up from the book he was reading so that he could see her. She'd just come in from the balcony and was leaning in the doorway smiling at him.

He put his book down on the coffee table by his knee and leaned backwards, threading his fingers together behind his head. Sarah was wearing a yellow sundress and had pulled her hair back into a ponytail.  
"I might have had a couple." He frowned at his own words "Or one, actually. But it's a good one. I promise."  
"Are you going to share or am I just going to have to take your word for it?" she asked playfully as she walked into the room properly and sat on his lap.  
"I'm not sure. What do I get for sharing?" he smirked at her and she laughed a little. Rather than answer she adjusted herself on his lap a little and then started jabbing at his side with her fingers. Connor playfully pushed her away and, when she fell backwards, caught her with his telekinesis, holding her in the air.

"Hey!" she pouted "No fair."  
"You started playing dirty first." He lowered her to the floor gently and then held out his hand to pull her to her feet. She took it but he pulled too hard, on purpose, and she fell onto him in the chair, both of them laughing together.

"So are you going to tell me how we're going to find the others or should I guess?" Sarah asked. She pushed herself away so that she was carrying her weight on her arms, which were pressed to the back of the chair on either side of his head.  
"Where's Ella?" he asked, completely changing the topic.  
"Practicing with one of the bows downstairs." Sarah replied "Are you sure we should let her do that unsupervised?"  
"She's fine. She knows all of the safety stuff. She might be young but we can't afford to coddle her. We're at war. War isn't safe."  
"Fine. But you still haven't answered my first question." She jabbed him in the side with one of her fingers again.

"Get Ella and meet me in the War Room. It's about time I showed you something." Sarah nodded and climbed off of his lap. She disappeared through one of the two doorways that led further into the house.

He waited for her to leave before he pushed himself out of his seat and made to follow her. He walked through the doorway and down the corridor, ignoring the doors on his right which opened into bedrooms.

He reached the spiral staircase at the bottom of the hall and started to climb up. Sarah would have gone down, to the ground floor where the kitchen and the training room were.

He walked down this corridor too, heading back the way that he'd came. He walked past an archway which was essentially just a corridor for access to the master bedroom, the one place in the house that he'd asked Sarah and Ella not to go in. Then he walked past the two bedrooms that belonged to Sarah and Ella and stepped through the door at the end.

The room he was standing in would have been a large sun room if it wasn't for the metal wall to his left. There were tables and chair scattered around so that someone could sit and enjoy the sun without ever having to go outside. It was useful considering the Louisiana weather.

He turned to the metal wall to his left and pressed his hand to the computer screen next to the door. The screen flashed green and there was a click as the door unlocked. He stepped through and pinned the door open with a chair that he moved without touching it.

This room was his pride and joy. There was an oval table in the middle of the room. There was currently ten chairs around it, although in one corner there was a stack of at least twenty. The centre of the table held a map of Earth and there were holographic projectors around it which, when switched on, could project a globe above the table. There was a computer screen built into the table in front of the ten seats and each of them had a keyboard built into the arm.

Three of the four walls had a door in them but the fourth was completely covered with computer screens. They were so close together that they looked like they were one, single screen and could be used like that if necessary. The computer processing power that ran through the room was incredible. Each computer in the table was an individual unit but it could be linked to the big screen to send information through. The big screen was always running, looking for any news of the Garde or the Mogadorians.

He sat in one of the chairs and tapped a few buttons in the arm of his chair. The globe appeared floating above the table. It was covered with symbols. There were two red triangles, both in America, one in West Virginia and the other in NOLA. There was also two red dots, one in NOLA and the second in Santa Teresa, Spain. There was a blue square, right on top of the triangle in West Virginia. Finally there was a small handful of yellow dots scattered across the globe.

"What's that?" Ella's voice startled him. He hadn't heard the girls arrive.  
"Close the door behind you." He told them, not answering the question. Sarah did as he asked and he waited for the two girls to join him around the table "This is a representation of the most current information that I have on the Garde and Mogs. The red dots are us. Here and the last time we had contact with Marina and Six in Spain. The red triangles are Mogadorian strongholds. I know for a fact that they are both still there. The blue square is the only Loric chest that I know the whereabouts of."  
"The Mogs have someone's chest?" Ella asked. Connor nodded.  
"I think that means that they have one of us too but I don't know for sure."  
"How did you find out about the chest?" Sarah asked.  
"I asked nicely." Connor smiled sweetly and both girls knew not to ask any more. They probably wouldn't like the answer.  
"What about the yellow dots?" Ella asked.  
"Any information the computer finds that it identifies as possible Garde or Mog activity gets put on here as a yellow dot until I can investigate further."

The girls studied the globe for a couple of minutes and Connor let them.  
"Is this what you wanted to show us?" Sarah asked eventually "I don't see how it helps."  
"It isn't." he opened a draw in the table next to his computer screen and pulled out a little black box.

"This is what I brought you here to show you." He placed the box on the table.  
"What is it?" Ella asked.  
"It came from the ship which brought us here." He told them "I told you that I lived on the streets when we got to Earth." The two girls nodded "Before that I stayed with the pilot, a Cêpan called Janus. I wasn't with him for very long, we were spotted trying to hide the ship. Before the Mogs caught up to us Janus landed the ship and handed me this. He said that the Mogadorians couldn't get both it and the ship. If they got both he said it would be disastrous."

He pulled a wire from the draw and connected one end into the socket on the side of his chair arm and the other into the black box. A second later the screens around the table burst to life.  
"At first I just thought it was because of all of this information." He watched as the two girls browsed through what was basically an encyclopaedia of everything Loric. Their eyes went wide in shock as they saw everything that was on the box "But I've been thinking about what Janus said to me. He said if he got _both_ this _and_ the ship. I think that when you plug this into the ship it'll show us the location of the other Garde."  
"Why? Why do you think that's what he meant?"  
"He said it would be disastrous. Specifically, it would be the death of you all." He looked at the two of them "He meant us. The Garde. If this device shows our location it would have been child's play to track us down and capture us all. Then, when we were all together and the charm was broken, they could kill us all with no casualties to themselves. A tracking device in the hands of the Mogadorians would have been a slaughter."

The two girls looked at him in confusion, as though they didn't know whether to believe him or not.  
"Look, I know it's a bit of a stretch, and it doesn't get any better. But this is literally the only way I can think of to find the others."  
"It doesn't get better?" Ella asked. She seemed unsure that she actually wanted to hear the answer.  
"I don't know where the ship is. The Mogs took it and killed Janus. It's somewhere on Earth." He explained "But I know where I can get the information from. And you really aren't going to like it."  
"This doesn't get any better." Sarah groaned.  
"I need to visit this base." He pointed at the red triangle in New Orleans "And capture a Mogadorian officer."  
"And I really don't want to know what you're going to do with him when you've got him do I?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.  
"No. No you don't."

"You can find the ship?" Ella asked.  
"Definitely. The issue is that the ship will, undoubtedly, be heavily guarded. I might not be able to get to it without the others. And I can't find the others without the ship."  
"Everything you tell us makes this plan sound even crazier."  
"If it sounds crazy and it works it ain't crazy." Connor replied easily.

"I'm going to go out tonight and catch an officer. With a little luck we'll have the information that we need by the morning and then we can hurry to find the others and win this war."  
"We should come with you." Sarah told him "You'll have better chance with us than on your own."  
"It's fine. I've done this hundreds of times. They won't know what hit them."

He stood from his chair and walked towards the door out of the room.  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sarah had followed him, leaving Ella staring at the globe floating over the table and the information on the screen.  
"I'm not sure of anything anymore but it's the best idea that we've got." He replied easily. Sarah reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him around to face her.  
"Just be careful." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.  
"Look after Ella."


	10. Chapter 10

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Ten**

5 March 2011

Connor smiled at his luck. He'd expected the Mogadorian base in Louisiana to be a hive of activity after they'd lost him in New Orleans but, as it turned out, he had only see one soldier as he watched the entrance to the base.

The entrance was an old house deep in the Bayou. It was built on a wooden platform that extended over one of the lakes but the supports had rotted away years ago and now half of the house was submerged in the water.

The Mogadorian was sat on a wooden chair at the end of the wooden platform. He was wearing the typical trench coat, sunglasses and hat and, sat out in the Bayou, he looked like a spy waiting to meet with a contact. His blaster was hung over the back of his chair and his sword was resting on his lap.

One of the beasts that had accompanied the General in Spain was curled in the grass next to the soldier. Connor had almost missed the beast at first, the grass that it was lying in was as tall as most humans and it would have completely hidden the beast if it wasn't for the panting sound that it made as it slept.

Connor had been watching for almost three hours. He wanted to make sure that there weren't any others hidden waiting for him as soon as he stepped out of the shadows. It seemed almost too easy, he'd never known the Mogadorians be this lax on security before.

In the end he decided that it was almost definitely worth the risk. Even if there wasn't an officer inside he could probably access the computers inside and find the information that he needed in there.

He waited until he thought that the solder was most distracted, not that Mogadorians sentries really got distracted, before he made his move.

He charged out of the trees where he had been watching them from. A purple blade extended over the back of his right hand. The soldier jumped up and pointed his sword at Connor, smirking, even as the beast lumbered to its feet in the grass.

The ground that the beast had just been sleeping on rose up around it, swallowing it up and dragging it down under the surface. He yanked the soldier forwards with his telekinesis and, as it flew towards him, pinned its sword arm behind its back. He stabbed it through the stomach with his blade whilst it was still flying.

The soldier disintegrated before it had chance to hit him, covering Connor in ash from head to toe. A second blade appeared on his other hand as he cautiously approached the door to the sinking house. He had no doubt that the Mogs inside already knew that he was coming after he'd killed the sentry and if they had another way out they weren't likely to try and play fair, they'd sneak up on him and kill him before he even knew what was happening.

He pushed the door open with his telekinesis and stepped inside. The water practically lapped at his feet from where the house had sunk into the lake. The roof above him was falling through and he could see the sky outside, tinted red as the sun sank below the horizon. The rest of the house, which was actually more of a shack, was entirely empty, apart from one camera in the corner over the water and a metal trapdoor in the floor.

He waved at the camera smugly and then walked over to the hatch. He tugged it as hard as he could but he wasn't surprised that it didn't open. The Mogadorians would have made it impenetrable. He studied it briefly to see if he could find how to open it but he knew that he didn't have the time. Every second that he wasted the Mogs could have been sneaking up behind him.

He stepped back and smiled as a stair case appeared in the ground at his feet, spiralling around the hatch and the tunnel underneath it. As he disappeared down his staircase the earth above him closed itself off so that the Mogadorians couldn't come through behind him.

He placed his hand on the wall to his right, the one between himself and the Mogadorian entrance. He focussed on his connection to the Earth, allowing his power to seep into the ground next to him. He could literally feel everything natural in the ground; the rock and the stone, the mud and the traces of sand. But he could also feel something unnatural; the metal that the Mogs had made their access tunnel from.

He could feel the metal extending down a couple of hundred metres into the earth. The Mogs had built their base far underground to avoid detection. His winding staircase reached the bottom of the hatch and he knew that this was going to be the difficult bit.

The walls of the base were all made of the same metal as the entrance tunnel and it was going to be difficult for him to punch through. He was standing on the metal now rather than rock and he took a second to centre himself before he set to work.

He placed his hands on the rock which surrounded him. The rocks started to shift until, around the edge of the metal square that he was standing on, he had a razor sharp blade of rock, held about an inch above the metal with his telekinesis.

He floated it up as high as it would go in the confined space and then reversed the momentum, using his telekinesis to force it down with as much force as he could. It hit the metal with a resounding crash but it wasn't hard enough to cut right through. He lifted it again and held it in the air for a second, repairing the parts that had chipped off on impact, before bringing it crashing down again. This time he felt the metal shake as it struck and he heard a groan. When he lifted his rock weapon up he could see light shining through from underneath where it had slightly pierced the metal.

The third time that he brought the rock formation crashing down the metal that he was standing on gave way. He felt himself start to fall and immediately called a ball of purple energy to surround him as the Mogs gathered below opened fire.

The blazing streaks of light crashed into his purple bubble harmlessly as he crashed through the roof of the base and landed on the floor. The Mogs kept shooting as he took a second to look around. There were ten of them all around him, they'd surrounded his entry point when they'd heard his first attempt to break through the roof. There was another Mogadorians standing behind the others, watching as they shot at him.

Connor recognised the officer right away. It was the boy who'd been accompanying Serena in New Orleans. With a vicious smirk Connor pushed his hands out to his sides. The bubble of energy that surrounded him expanded violently, hitting the Mogs that were shooting at him and turning them all to ash on contact.

Only the officer was left.

Connor allowed the bubble that surrounded him to dissipate as the officer fumbled for the blaster which hung on his belt. He never had the time to draw it, Connor held out his hand and the blaster was pulled from the officer's belt and shot across the room into Connor's hand.

"You killed my friend." Connor told the Mogadorian "So now you're going to answer all of my questions. If you don't you'll pay the consequences." The Mogadorians nodded and Connor was quite surprised at how easily he'd given in. He'd been expecting to have to hurt him to get his information.

"What's your name?"  
"Braxicus Jupitus." The Mogadorian replied shakily. If he had to guess Connor would say that Braxicus hadn't ever fought a Garde before. The fear was evident on his face.  
"I'm going to call you Brad. Did you call for reinforcements, Brad?" The officer nodded and Connor frowned "Well we can't have that. Tell them that your men panicked, that it was just an animal. Call off the reinforcements."

He watched as Brad walked up to one of the computer consoles that lined the wall behind him and started to type. Connor moved so that he was standing over his shoulder, watching everything that he typed. Unfortunately he was typing in Mogadorian so Connor had no way of knowing what he was actually saying to the others. He just had to hope that this inexperienced officer was scared enough of him to do what he said.

"They've called their troops back to the city but Commander Carnelius has insisted on sending some soldiers to check in." Brad told him eventually. Connor frowned but he wasn't really surprised, Mogadorians were too cautious to just call off the reinforcements like that.

"Then you'd better answer my questions quickly." Connor kicked Brad's chair. It span around until the Mogadorian was facing Connor "What's your rank?" he needed to know if his prisoner could actually give him the information that he needed.  
"I am Captain Braxicus Jupitus, trueborn son of Felicius Jupitus and husband of Camilla Tyranicus." Connor knew that was the formal greeting of all Mogadorians and the tattoos which adorned his bald head would tell anyone who could read Mogadorian exactly that, although, from the scarcity of them, Connor would guess that they wouldn't say much else. The fact that this Captain was actually married to the General's daughter would be helpful to Connor.

"That's good. You might be more helpful to me than I anticipated." Connor smiled to himself "I need to know what happened to the LDC Terrax-Class Cruiser which brought us to Earth. You're going to find out for me." Brad gulped and Connor was glad to see that the Mog was still terrified of him. He nodded once and Connor allowed him to turn around so that he was facing the computers again.

He stood over Brad's shoulder and watched as he pulled up a bunch of different reports, all written in Mogadorian. He saw a schematic for the ship in one of them and that confirmed his suspicions, the Mogadorians had taken the ship. He dreaded to think what they'd done to it.

"After General Tyranicus missed you in New York after you landed he took the ship and the pilot." Brad started "At first they took it to a Mogadorian facility but once a deal had been made with the humans the ship was transferred to their care."  
"You made a deal with the humans?" Connor asked. He couldn't say that he was surprised, it was the only way he could see the Mogs being able to move around the country so freely "To what extent?"  
"We provide them with technology, including your ship, and they allow us to hunt down the Loric fugitives." Brad replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world "The humans have accepted Mogadorian Progress, why can't you? Beloved Leader would be pleased if you accepted Mogadorian Progress."  
"Beloved Leader can shove our ship where the sun don't shine." Connor replied easily "Where are they keeping the ship?" he could see the Mogadorian didn't like him insulting Beloved Leader but he didn't care, he was here for a reason. Brad tapped a couple of keys and pulled up the information.  
"Dulce Base, New Mexico. You'll never get in there. It's impossible. You'll be killed before you ever reach the base."  
"You'll be killed before you've said another word if you keep running your mouth." Connor was starting to get fed up now and he knew that he didn't have long before the soldiers the Commander had sent to check in would arrive.

"I need to know what happened to my chest, if you have any more and if you have any Loric prisoners." He might as well get as much information as he could out of his prisoner whilst he had the chance. Brad didn't look like he wanted to do anymore but Connor wasn't going to give him a choice. A blade of purple energy extended past his fist and he pressed it to the Mogadorian's throat, forcing him to tilt his chin up so that he wasn't burned.

"Fine. I'll get you your information." Brad acquiesced and Connor smirked victoriously, allowing the energy that surrounded his fist to dissipate. The Mogadorian tapped a few more buttons, calling up the relevant information "We captured a chest three years ago but when we opened it the contents self-destructed. We had two chests in West Virginia, as well as a Garde, but the Garde escaped with the help of another and they took the chests with them."

There was a beeping from one of the computers and Brad tapped a few buttons bringing up the camera feeds from the camera in the house above them. Connor frowned when he saw Carnelius Tyranicus and four other soldiers standing above the entrance hatch. He knew that he had to get out of there but he needed to deal with Brad first. He couldn't have the Mog telling them that he was here.

The purple blade appeared around his fist once more and he pressed the point to the back of Brad's neck. He pulled his fist back and was just about to deliver the killing blow when he hesitated. There was no point killing Brad, the Mogs were likely to do that themselves, he'd committed treason by helping Connor.

The Garde let his power go and the blade slowly disappeared. He turned and walked away, stopping under the hole that he'd made to get into the base. A sheet of rock slid down to the floor and changed its shape into a ladder so that Connor could climb back up into the shaft. As he disappeared into the darkness he sealed the hatch behind him so that the Mogadorians couldn't follow him.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Eleven**

5 March 2011

Connor emerged from his tunnel about a mile away from the Mogadorian base. It was dark now but Connor could still see everything in perfect detail thanks to his night vision. He'd never realised how helpful a Legacy like that could be.

He heard a noise from the direction of the base and turned back in that direction. He wanted to make sure that they weren't following him.

What he saw instead actually made his stomach churn. The soldiers that had accompanied Carnelius to check on the base were dragging someone out of the shack between them. He could only guess that the prisoner was Brad, the Mogadorian that had just betrayed his people and given Connor all of the information that he wanted.

He watched as they forced the prisoner to his knees in front of the Commander. Connor could tell that it was the Commander because he was about a head taller than all of the other Mogadorians in the area. There were about twenty of them, forming a perimeter around the shack which hid the entrance to their base of operation in this state. There were also beasts in the clearing. He counted two of the weasel creatures which were called Krauls and one of the large, hairless wolves which the Tyranicus family seemed to be so fond of.

The wolf was circling the prisoner and Connor had no doubt that on an instruction from the Commander it wouldn't hesitate to devour Brad for helping him.

Connor knew that he should just turn around and leave the Mog to his fate. One less Mog in the world couldn't be a bad thing.

But Connor couldn't bring himself to walk away. This Mog wasn't like the others. Connor could see it in his eyes. He hadn't believed what he'd said, he'd said it because it was what he had been taught to say. He'd helped him with very little motivation on Connor's part, he'd just done it. It would have been easy for him to trick Connor and call for reinforcements but he hadn't.

Before he even knew what he was doing Connor found himself running as fast as he could towards the base.

As he got nearer the faces of the Mogadorians became clearer. Brad looked terrified, and rightly so. The Commander wasn't happy with him. He could see the anger in Carnelius' eyes. He was going to kill his sister's husband and he wouldn't think twice about it.

Connor waited until the last possible moment to make himself know. He saw one of the soldiers turn towards him but it was too late. A blade of purple energy erupted from his hand at the exact moment that he punched the soldier in the stomach. The blade went right through his chest and the Mogadorian turned to ash.

A slab of rock burst out of the ground with enough force to send Connor flying through the air as the other soldiers turned and opened fire at him. Most of the shots streaked past him, lighting up the air like a firework display, but one struck him in the side. Connor's face contorted in pain as he flipped through the air and landed on one knee behind Brad.

He brought one of his blades through the air and cut through the restraints which were binding Brad's hands together. At the same time five spikes of rock pierced the earth and impaled five of the Commander's soldiers. Brad dived to the side and grabbed a blaster off of the floor but he didn't use it, he kept switching between aiming for Connor and Carnelius, as though he couldn't decide who he should be shooting at.

The two Krauls charged at Connor but a blast of telekinesis sent them sailing through the air. They landed with a splash in the water and it immediately became apparent that they didn't know how to swim as they splashed around in the lake.

The Commander moved so that he was standing in front of Connor. His right hand was wielding a sword and his left was resting on the head of the wolf, which was crouched down, ready to pounce; saliva forming at the corner of its mouth.

"My father told me that you were arrogant but I never thought that you were stupid enough to attack us in our home. Not without reinforcements." Carnelius told him.  
"Well, after I showed you up in the city I thought you might like a second chance." Connor replied as he pushed himself to his feet. There was no way that he was going to let this Mogadorian intimidate him. The purple blade was still glowing on his right hand but his left was pressed to his side where he'd been shot.  
"I won't make the same mistakes my father did." Carnelius promised "I won't be dumb enough to fight you alone." Connor grimaced, he'd kind of hoped that was exactly what he'd do.  
"Then I'll just have to kill all of you, won't I?" Connor's left hand dropped from his side and a glowing blade coalesced on the back of it.

"Kill him!" The Commander shouted. His beast growled and leaped through the air at the same time as the soldiers opened fire. Connor dived backwards, firing bolts of purple energy at the soldiers as he sailed through the air. Whenever they landed the bolts exploded, showering the soldiers in shrapnel and dust so that they couldn't see to take aim at him.

He landed hard on his back and the hound landed right on top of him. His hands came up and wrapped around the shoulders on its front legs but it took all of his strength to keep the hound's mouth away from his face.

He heard footsteps approaching him and knew that the Commander had come to finish him. He hadn't thought that he would be killed this easily.

He saw the Commander raise his sword and knew that the end had come. There was only one more thing that he could try.

A drop of the beast's saliva landed on his face and he grimaced as it started to burn through his skin. The beast's saliva was acidic. What kind of sicko thought of something like that?

The Commander thrust his sword down and Connor wrapped the blade in his grip, although he never actually touched it. He watched as the weapon halted in the air, inches above the beast's back. Carnelius was planning on killing them both.

Connor started to sweat from the exertion, he was struggling to focus on the sword whilst fighting against the overpowering strength of this hellish Mogadorian creation which was still on top of him. He could see that the Commander was struggling too, the veins in his arm were throbbing and his brow was creased in concentration. But there was only one way their contest was ever going to end and slowly the Commander's sword edged its way closer and closer to Connor's heart.

The beast yowled as the sword dug its way into its back and Connor's face was sprayed with acid.

That was all that he needed to lose his concentration.

The sword picked up speed at an incredible rate and Connor felt when it pierced through the beast's stomach and pricked his own chest.

Just as he was certain that it was all over and he was about to die there was a blast of a Mogadorian cannon and the Commander was launched backwards through the air.

Connor heard the soldiers panicking, they didn't know what had happened. They rushed to the Commander's side and as they did a shadow fell over Connor.

His eyes glided past the beast which was now dead on top of him, to see Brad was standing over him, the blaster that he'd grabbed when Connor first saw him clutched in his hand. Brad wrapped his hand around the hilt of the Commander's sword and pulled it out of the beast.

Connor pushed the beast off of him and climbed to his feet, grunting as he did.  
"Thanks." Brad nodded and grabbed Connor's arm, pulling it over his shoulder so that he could help him to walk. The two of them set off running as fast as they could into the night with the other soldiers hot on their tail. Every now and again they had to turn around to face their enemies so that they could slow them down and prevent them from getting too close.

On one of these occasions Connor reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone that he kept there. He dialled a number and held it to his ear whilst Brad engaged their pursuers.

"Connor?" Sarah picked the phone up on the second ring.  
"Sarah, listen closely. Things went a little pear-shaped. You and Ella need to pack a bag and get out of the house. Get some weapons and a first aid kit, load them into a jeep and I'll send you the location of where I want you to meet us."  
"What's going on, Connor?" Sarah sounded worried. Brad fired a shot from his blaster "Is that gunfire?"  
"Yes, that's gunfire. Did you hear what I said?" There was no answer from the other end of the phone.  
"Hurry up." Brad called as a blaster shot narrowly missed his head.  
"Who was that?" Sarah asked, breaking the silence.  
"A friend. Did you hear what I said, Sarah?"  
"Yes. I heard you."  
"Good. Pack lightly." He didn't wait for a reply, he just hung up the phone and quickly text her a location.

"She'll be waiting for us." Connor told his new ally. The Mog nodded and allowed Connor to throw his arm over his shoulder again. His wound were starting to tire him out and he was struggling to walk, never mind run and fight.

They'd thinned out the number of Mogs that had followed them from the shack but Connor knew that by now the Mogs from the city would have been called and they'd all be rushing to cut them off. The only way that they'd survive this was if they made it to Sarah.

It took them twenty minutes of running and fighting to reach the truck stop where Connor had told Sarah to meet them. Connor had practically passed out when they were five minutes out. He used his power to create a chasm like he'd done in Spain to keep the Mogadorians from following them but it had drained him.

Brad had to carry him into the truck stop. Sarah and Ella were waiting, both of them carrying rifles, which they immediately pointed at Brad as soon as they saw him.

"I'm a friend." Brad told them. He'd have held up his hands but they were carrying Connor "Number Ten saved my life."  
"Connor?" Sarah asked. Even in the state he was in, passing in and out of consciousness, Connor could hear how panicked she was "Is he alright?"  
"He's wounded. Did you bring the first aid kit?" That was the last thing Connor heard for a couple of minutes as he blacked out.

The next time he came around he was in the back of the car with Brad. Ella was sat in the passenger seat and Sarah was driving. Brad had the first aid kit open and was using it to treat Connor's wounds.

"How bad is it?" Connor asked groggily. His arms and legs felt like they were made of lead and it took all of his energy just to open his mouth.  
"You'll live. The sword barely touched you but it's that which is making you so tired." Brad explained. Connor noticed that the Mogadorian picked over his words carefully, as though he wasn't comfortable speaking in the language "The blaster wound will heal eventually but the acid wounds are going to scar. You're lucky none got in your eyes."  
"What happened back there?" Sarah asked, her eyes never leaving the road "And why are we travelling with one of them?"  
"Brad saved my life. You can trust him." Connor's eyes were starting to droop and he was slipping back into unconsciousness.  
"It's alright, Sarah." Ella spoke up for the first time "We can trust him."  
"How do you know?" Sarah asked suspiciously.  
"I just do." Ella replied cryptically.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Twelve**

9 March 2011

Connor stretched his arms above his head and immediately regretted it. He could feel the stitches that Brad had put in the blaster wound at his side pulling. He dropped his arms to his side but the pain didn't go away completely, he was left with a dull throbbing in his right side.

The door opened and Brad walked through.

"How's it looking?" Connor asked.  
"They didn't follow us. As far as I can tell we got away clean."  
"Good." Connor looked at the two girls. Both of them were sleeping, sharing a bed. Sarah's arm was wrapped over Ella's back protectively. The older girl still didn't trust Brad, not that Connor could blame her. He was still having trouble getting his head around it. The only one of them who seemed to have accepted their new ally unconditionally was Ella. Whenever they asked her why she always said something like: 'He doesn't want to hurt us. I can tell.' or 'I know he's good. I just know it.'

"You still want to go to Dulce, don't you?" Brad asked. Connor had explained his plan to the others the day after they arrived at the motel in Oklahoma. None of them had been too eager to go with him, after their last scrap with the Mogs they all thought that he was crazy. But Connor wouldn't be talked down. He knew that it was the only way they were going to find the others and nobody was going to convince him otherwise.  
"Unless you know another way to find the Garde?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Mogadorian. He knew that he didn't have another idea. None of them did. But they all agreed that Connor's plan was crazy.

When the Mogadorian didn't reply Connor turned and walked into the small bathroom that adjoined their room. He twisted the tap and looked into the mirror as the basin filled with water.

Since the skirmish in the Bayou Connor's face had been scarred by the acidic saliva of the Commander's pet beast, which Brad had called a Wilk. There was a scar on his left cheek, shaped like a crescent moon with little lines running down from it, as though it had been painted on and the paint had ran. The other scar looked like someone had put the acid on a paint brush and flicked it at his face. It was hundreds of little splatters ranging from the right corner of his lip across his nose to underneath his left eye. The splodges were a purple-red colour and looked ugly. The spots on his lips had turned them white, as thought they'd been bleached.

He tore his gaze away from the mirror and thrust his hands into the water which had filled the basin. He splashed the water on his face and gasped as it splashed some of the scars which hadn't quite healed properly and were still sore. He was lucky that the Loric healed quickly. If he had been human the acid would have likely burned off half of his face, although he often thought that it might as well have done, considering how badly scarred he now was.

Someone cleared their throat behind him and he glanced in the mirror. Sarah was leaning in the doorway, watching him with a slight frown on her face.  
"How are you doing?" she asked.  
"Apart from the fact that I look like something out of a horror movie?" he asked, trying to make light of it. He could see from the look on her face that Sarah wasn't buying it "Honestly, Hart, I'm fine." He smirked at her in the mirror and decided that she needed distracting.

He cupped his hands in the basin and allowed them to fill with water. Then he turned and through the water at Sarah. The girl screeched as the water hit her and proceeded to run away as Connor grabbed another handful of water. He chased her through their small room, water dripping behind him, both of them laughing as they ran.

Ella was awake on the bed and watched them with a small smile on her face, the exact opposite of the small frown which adorned Brad's face, almost like he didn't understand what was going on.

Connor pushed Sarah onto the second bed but she grabbed his hand and pulled him down with her. He fell on top of her and they both just lay there, limbs entangled, laughing. Connor appreciated the break from the way the others all looked at him.

Ever since he woke up properly he could feel them looking at him as though he was weak. Judging him for the scars that now adorned his face. And they were right. He had no right to be leading them. He couldn't even beat a handful of soldiers, how was he meant to lead them into an enemy base.

"We don't think you're weak." Ella's voice sounded. Connor's mouth fell open. Had he said that out loud? No, he can't have. The others were looking at Ella like she was crazy too. The youngest Garde was standing over them, looking down right at Connor.  
"Ella, what do you mean?" Sarah asked gently. She extricated herself from Connor and sat on the edge of the bed.  
"He said that we thought he was weak. I heard him." Connor frowned slightly, his brain working a mile a minute trying to figure out what was going on.  
"No, he didn't. Did he?" Sarah looked at Brad and it was clear that neither of them had heard him.  
"But I thought it." Connor cut across them before anyone else could say anything. He ignored the shocked look that Sarah sent him, instead focussing on the issue at hand "Ella, are you sure that you heard me say that?" the girl looked confused but she nodded once. Connor's face broke into a broad grin. It twisted his scars into strange shapes but he didn't care, and neither did the others.  
"I think you're developing a new Legacy." He saw the excitement light up Ella's eyes and laughed a little.  
"What is it?" She asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.  
"Telepathy. The ability to read someone's mind."

Ella squealed and jumped on Sarah, wrapping her arms around the older girl. Connor smiled and pushed himself off of the bed, walking to the door and stepping out of the room.

"You're not weak." Brad said as he followed him onto the landing "You came back to save me. I was your sworn enemy, if the roles had been reversed I'd have left you to die. But you didn't. It shows great strength to help your enemy. I only hope I can be half as strong as you were in the Bayou."  
"Maybe you're right. But it doesn't change the fact that I wasn't strong enough to beat Carnelius. If I can't beat him how can I possibly hope to beat his father? Never mind Setrákus Ra?"  
"You seem to think that you have to face them alone." Brad placed his hand on Connor's shoulder gingerly "But you aren't alone. Sarah and Ella would follow you to Lorien or even Mogadore if you asked them to. Because they believe in you."  
"What about you? Would you follow me to Mogadore?"  
"I would make the journey carrying you if you told me it would help you to beat my people. I owe you my life, Connor Young, and I will repay you however I can."  
"You owe me nothing. I saved you and then you saved me. Twice. I think that makes us even."  
"Never-the-less, I will fight with you. And, if it comes to that, I will die for you." Connor looked at the Mogadorian, studying him. He looked much like the rest of his people, pale with dark eyes, but he also looked more human, the same as the General and his sons.

"Back in the bunker, you said you were the trueborn son of whoever your father is. I can't say I cared to remember. What does that mean? I've heard your people describe themselves like that before but I've always been too focussed on gathering intelligence to ask what it means."  
"The way my people tell it our planet was dying but so was our people. The birth rate was almost non-existent and most females unlucky enough to conceive would die in child birth." Brad started "Then Beloved Leader arrived and saved us. Except he never fixed the fertility problems or the childbirth problems. He just found a way to make soldiers."  
"What do you mean: make? Like in a test tube?"  
"Exactly like that." Brad agreed "We call them the vat-born. They are the soldiers and the scouts that you fight so often. They disintegrate when they die because they were made for dying not for burying. Those are the words of Beloved Leader's Great Book."  
"So trueborn means that you were conceived and born rather than made?" Connor guessed. Brad nodded.  
"I was the only child of my father. My mother died giving birth to me. General Tyranicus was lucky. His wife survived giving birth to his first son: Carnelius. But then she fell pregnant again; this time with twins. She died giving birth to them but both children survived. Cassius and Camilla."  
"Your wife." Connor remembered what the Mog had told him in the bunker.  
"Yes. My father died on Lorien and I went to live with the General. But he never adopted me, instead he married me to his daughter when we were both ten years old."  
"He sounds like a stand-up parent."

"Connor, Ella needs to tell you something." Connor looked over his shoulder and saw Sarah standing there. It was obvious that she didn't want to interrupt but that fact that she had showed that it was important. Connor nodded and followed her back into the hotel room, with Brad behind him.

Ella was curled up on the bed, her head in her hands. Connor immediately dropped onto the bed and pulled her close to him so that her back was pressed against her chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head, cocooning her against him.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.  
"It's… it's Six." She sobbed "She's in trouble."  
"How do you know?"  
"I felt her. She said that she's dying in the desert. We need to help her."  
"Do you know where?" Connor asked, trying to keep his concern hidden. He didn't want to frighten Ella any more than she already was.  
"She said West Mexico." Connor looked at Sarah and Brad. Both of them looked unhappy with the revelation.

"Now are you going to try and tell me that we shouldn't go to Dulce?" he asked.  
"If she's anyway near the base my people will have her soon." Brad told them in a matter-of-fact tone.  
"What will they do to her?" Sarah asked.  
"Nothing nice." Connor replied before Brad had the chance to go into detail "We need to get her out of there."  
"I agree." Brad nodded along. Sarah glanced at him, clearly still not comfortable with him being there, but quickly returned her gaze to Connor.  
"Let's go." Connor nodded and looked down at Ella.  
"It's all right, Shrimp, we'll get her back."


	13. Chapter 13

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

10 March 2011

Connor revved the engine and smiled as the roar of the Kawasaki ATV that he had rented filled his ears. Before they had come into the desert they had stopped to change the bandages on Connor's side and prepare themselves for the battle that was sure to follow.

Whilst they were there Connor had seen a place renting out vehicles to use if you wanted to travel through the desert. He'd rented the ATV and used it to speed through the sand ahead of Brad, who was driving the 4x4 with Sarah and Ella inside.

Since they'd arrived Ella had been trying to get in touch with Six using her telepathy but she hadn't had any luck so far. Sarah was keeping Connor up to date by the wireless earpiece he was wearing. He was using a GPS on his handlebars to lead them towards the base, using the coordinates that Brad had provided them.

"Connor, she got in touch with John." Sarah practically screeched in his ear. Connor didn't reply, he was too busy focussing as he hit the top of a sand dune and soared high into the air. He reached the top of his jump and frowned as he saw three heavily armed helicopters flying in a straight line on the horizon.  
"Let me guess?" he asked as he landed "He's in trouble."  
"How did you know?" Sarah sounded surprised and Connor couldn't help but smile.  
"Three helicopters, about three miles out. Get ready to fight." Connor replied "I'll see you there." And with that he gunned his engine, shooting across the sand as fast as he could go.

It only took him a couple of seconds to reach the helicopters. They were flying above a convoy of armoured vehicles heading towards a beat-up old ford with someone leaning out of the window shooting at the convoy and a gun turret poking through the hood, firing at the convoy too.

Connor's eyes landed on a sand dune right next to the path that the convoy was taking and an idea formed in his head. He revved the engine and shot towards the dune, the same thing he'd done a few minutes before when he'd seen the helicopters.

This time, when he hit the top of the dune, Connor threw himself off of the bike. He used his telekinesis to make sure that he landed on his feet and then used it to guide the bike at the lead helicopter.

He smirked in satisfaction as the bike struck the helicopter and they both exploded in a cloud of flame. The helicopter veered into the ground and the convoy had to split up to move around it. One of the vehicles didn't turn fast enough and it ploughed into the crashed vehicle where it, too, exploded.

A blur shot past Connor and he looked behind him to see that one of the Garde in the car had got out. That must have been who had just shot past him. Connor sprinted down the dune at a much more sedate pace, which was still easily as fast as the convoy.

The turrets on top of two of the vehicles turned to face him but before the operators had chance to shoot the sand on the floor rose up and engulfed the two vehicles, creating a new dune. The sand hardened and turned to rock even as Connor sprinted up the sloping sides.

A purple blade appeared on his hand and he used it to stab one of the gunners as he ran past before launching himself through the air at a second helicopter, both fists trailing purple energy.

He jumped right into the path of the rotors but he simply brought his hand up and the rotor sliced in half on the purple energy. Connor brought the other blade around and sliced off the entire rotor unit, causing the aircraft to go into a spin and crash into the ground.

He landed on the sand and rolled forwards, coming nimbly to his feet, a wall of sand rising behind him to protect him as the other vehicles in the convoy opened fire on him.

The other Garde, the one who'd ran past in a blur, slid to a halt in front of him.  
"What's your number?" he asked gruffly. He was wielding a silver staff in one hand with a point at one end and just by the way he was holding it Connor knew that he was an expert in using it.  
"Connor." Connor replied easily "You?"  
"Nine." He replied. He hefted his arm over his shoulder and hurled the pipe at the third helicopter. At the same time the sand rose around the two of them and shot through the air towards the closest vehicle, flipping it onto its roof.

"Nice." Nine commented as he watched the sand drop to the floor.  
"Did you come with John?" he asked.  
"Yeah. Johnny boy saved me from the Mogs." Nine replied. Connor nodded, he'd expected as much. There was gunfire and Connor saw that the rest of the convoy was driving towards the car which Nine had come in.

Nine grabbed his hand and there was a static shock but Connor barely noticed as he was whisked across that sands at breakneck speeds. The scenery was a blur and if he was being honest Connor was surprised that he didn't get whiplash from the speed they were moving at.

They slid to a halt in of the car just as John jumped off of the roof and it was blown up in a hail of gunfire. Connor raised a bubble of purple energy around the three of them and the bullets disintegrated as they struck the shield.

They heard an engine revving and Connor turned around to see the 4x4 shooting over the sand towards them. Brad was clearly visible hunched over the wheel and John and Nine squared off, preparing for a fight.

"Don't." Connor held his hands out, stopping them "They're friendlies."  
"Dude, that's a Mog behind the wheel."  
"I know. But John, look in the passenger seat." Connor watched as the boy's eyes widened.  
"Who's that, Johnny Boy?" Nine asked.  
"Sarah Hart." Connor replied for him.  
"The girl you never shut up about?" Nine asked John. Connor laughed but it didn't last long as one of the remaining vehicles peeled away from the pack and shot towards the 4x4.

"Do you want this one or shall I?" Connor asked lightly as a blade came to life on his right hand. Connor didn't have time to wait for a response as the other cars arrived outside of his barrier. He set of running as fast as he could. He barely noticed as he reached the car in record time. He twisted his right shoulder down and the same purple energy that he used to make his blades formed a sheet over his shoulder.

He barrelled into the car with enough force to flip it through the air. As it flipped the sand rose up and formed three spikes which pierced straight through the armour and pinned the car in the air; belly facing up. One of the doors opened and an agent fell out. Before he was halfway to the ground another spike of sand shot up and impaled him, his blood pooling on the floor.

A cloud of sand kicked up behind him and he turned around to see the 4x4 stop behind him. The door opened and Brad was the first out, a rifle clutched in his hand. Sarah got out of the passenger seat, nearest to Connor, and rushed towards him.

"How did you do that?" she asked. Connor frowned, he didn't know what she was on about.  
"We didn't know you could run that fast." Brad added as he walked around the front of the car.  
"What do you mean?" Connor asked, his face creasing into a frown "I wasn't running that fast."  
"You were a blur." Ella told him as she joined them "You didn't know." It wasn't a question, she was still in his mind.

"It doesn't matter." Connor shook his head, choosing not to believe what they were saying. He turned to look at John and Nine and saw that they had been a boy and a girl. The girl was waving her hand through the air and hurling cars and people around like they were made of paper. The boy was disappearing and reappearing all over the place, causing havoc wherever he was before disappearing and popping up somewhere else.

"We're here." Connor realised slowly "We're all here."  
"Not all." Brad pointed out "Six is still captured and Five is missing."  
"Way to kill the mood." Connor drawled, causing Sarah to smile and Ella to giggle "Let's go meet the family."

Connor and the others walked across the sand towards their friends, watching as they finished off the convoy.

By the time Connor and the others had reached John and Nine there was nobody left to fight. He took a second to look over the battlefield and frowned. They really hadn't been very subtle. The three helicopters were burning wrecks scattered across the sand and most of the vehicles were on their roofs. One of them was suspended 20 feet in the air on three spikes of solid sand with another spike impaling a soldier underneath it.

Connor stopped in front of the group and, without even realising what they were doing, the Garde, including Ella, formed a circle, leaving Sarah and Brad on the outside.

"They have Number Six inside." Connor spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen in the desert.  
"Then let's go and get her." Nine spun his staff around his head.  
"Connor needs healing first." Ella said. Marina rushed forwards, her eyes running over his body, searching for the wound. He looked down and saw the blood seeping through his side, he'd torn the stitches out whilst he was fighting but the adrenaline had stopped him from feeling the pain.

Marina placed her hands on his side and he felt her icy touch push into him. At the same time there was a static shock and Marina pulled her hands away. Immediately the icy feeling disappeared.  
"What's wrong?" John asked, his voice full of concern. He'd engulfed Sarah in a hug whilst Marina was healing Connor but now he pulled away to look at the two of them.  
"Static shock." She muttered. She put her hands on him more cautiously but this time, as the icy feeling returned, there was no shock.  
"You must be tingling, Connor. You shocked me earlier." Nine was almost as tall as Connor but he was broader, with long, black hair like Connor's. He was easily the strongest of all of the assembled Garde, Connor could see his muscles under his shirt.

"It's nothing." Marina waved it off "It's fine now."  
"Are you sure?" John was shorter than Nine, but not by much. His hair had been shaved recently but Connor could see patches of blonde starting to grow back. His blue eyes stood out against his tanned skin and Connor had to admit that he saw why Sarah had fallen for him. Marina nodded and pulled her hands away. The wound was completely healed. Connor smiled and raised his hands in the air, stretching properly for the first time in days.

"Where's the entrance?" the other Garde asked. Connor assumed that it was Eight, Brad had said that Five wasn't there.  
"That way." It was the first time that Brad had spoken up since the Garde had been united. He was pointing into the distance and at the same time staring down Nine, who was glaring him.  
"Where did you find the Mog, Conman?" Connor frowned at the nickname Nine had just given him but didn't say anything about it.  
"Long story." Connor shrugged "He saved my life. And Ella says he's fine."  
"How would she know?" Eight asked politely.  
"She's a telepath." Connor replied simply. He watched as the other Garde shared looks but they could all see that Connor, Ella and Sarah had sort of formed a protective wall around Brad. Sarah and Ella were both carrying pistols and Connor could tell that Brad was tensed for action behind him.

"Let's go." John broke through the awkward stand-off and got everyone's attention "Six needs us."


	14. Chapter 14

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

10 March 2011

They found the entrance to the base hidden under a cactus, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Connor and Nine tore it in half with their telekinesis revealing a metal hatch hidden underneath.  
"I've got this." Connor announced confidently. Nine stepped away and the sand and rock which the hatch was embedded in started to shift until there was a sloping tunnel leading down into the tunnel which would lead them into the base.

"Ladies first." Connor waved Marina forwards in an exaggerated fashion. The two of them would lead the way because they could see in the dark. Marina stepped onto the slope and Connor followed. He heard the others step in behind them and together they made their way down the tunnel.

Connor had guessed right. There were no lights in the tunnel, the only light piercing the darkness was coming through the entrance that Connor had just made for them. Once everyone was off of his ramp Connor closed it off, plunging them into complete darkness.

He was expecting his night vision to kick in so that he could lead the others down the tunnel so he was surprised when nothing happened. He waved his hand in front of his face but he couldn't see anything.  
"I can't see." He gasped as the realisation hit him.  
"You and me both, Conman." Nine agreed loudly.  
"No, you don't understand. One of my Legacies lets me see in the dark. I should be able to see everything." All of a sudden the tunnel was bathed in light and Connor thought that his Legacy had finally kicked in but then he saw that both of John's hands were lit up like flashlights.  
"How do you lose a Legacy?" Marina asked. Clearly she was afraid that the same would happen to her. Connor frowned and shook his head.  
"It doesn't matter. We'll worry about it later. I've got other ways of seeing underground." He placed his hand on the wall and allowed his power to flow through the rock "There's a metal door about 200 feet that way." He raised his hand and pointed down the tunnel.  
"How do you know that?" John asked. Connor smiled.  
"I can feel the Earth when I touch it, I can tell what it's made of, what's in it. I can feel the metal, it's unnatural, not from Earth."  
"Mogs." Nine laughed "Let's go get 'em."

Together the group set off down the tunnel with John in the lead and Connor right behind him. Connor trailed his hand along the wall as he walked, getting a feel of the corridor.

Just as he'd said there was a metal door filling the end of the corridor, cutting them off.  
"How do we open it?" Sarah asked.  
"Easy." Eight, Nine and Marina stepped up so that they were standing next to Connor and John and together the five of them slowly pulled the door open with their telekinesis. Two Mogadorians were visible through the hole that they were making. Eight disappeared and reappeared behind the two Mogs. He pulled a sword from one of them and thrust it through his back even as Nine hurled his staff right at the other.

They both turned to ash and Eight waved the others through. Ella, Sarah and Brad climbed through the hole whilst the Garde held the door open. Then it was time for the four of them still in the tunnel to make their way through, one at a time, until they were all in the base. Once they were through they let the door shut.

Connor turned around just in time to see four Mogadorian soldiers come around the corner.  
"Get down." He called as they raised their blasters. One of them got a shot off even as a blast of purple energy shot down the corridor, right at the group. The blast exploded as it struck, taking down all four of the Mogs but as soon as it exploded red lights started flashing all along the corridor and a siren sounded throughout the base.

"What's the play?" Connor asked. They all knew that they didn't have much time now, the Mogs would be on them in seconds.  
"We kill anyone who moves until we find Six." John replied.  
"And our ship." Connor added.  
"The ship's here?" Eight asked. Clearly they hadn't expected that.  
"The ship's not a priority." John told them. Connor nodded and stepped forwards. Nine and Eight joined him as a large group of Mogs rounded the corner. The three of them put themselves between the Mogs and their friends. Connor heard Nine crack his neck before he flicked his wrist and his staff extended to its full form.

"Shall we dance?" Connor asked the two of them with a smile.  
"Ladies first." Nine gestured, copying what Connor had said to Marina earlier.  
"Then please, lead the way." Connor replied. Nine laughed and Eight cracked a smile. Then the Mogs opened fire and they were forced into action. Nine sprinted forwards in a blur and Eight disappeared from where he'd been standing seconds before.

Connor started sprinting and two blades appeared on his fists, trailing behind him. He reached the Mogs and dropped to his knees, sliding along the floor like a baseball player sliding into the base. He held his blades out to the side and all of the Mogs fell to the floor as he severed their legs.

He jumped to his feet and immediately leaned to the side to avoid being stabbed by a Mogadorian sword. He punched the weapon, his hand wreathed in purple energy, and the blade shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Connor deflected most of the pieces away from him towards the Mog with his telekinesis but one slipped through and struck him in the shoulder, even as the Mog was turned to ash. Connor brought his hand up to the wound on instinct and gasped as he felt an icy feeling flowing from his hand and into the wound.

He looked around, expecting to see Marina nearby, pouring her healing into him, but she was separated from him by a group of Mogs, all of whom had seen him wounded and cut off from his friends and were starting to converge on him, seeing him as the weak link.

But they didn't know that somehow, by some miracle, he'd just healed his own wound. He didn't know how he'd done it, that wasn't one of his Legacies, but he didn't have time to dwell on it then. He was surrounded by enemies who needed killing and he wasn't about to keep them waiting.

A blade of energy grew from the back of his right hand and from his left a whip fell to the floor, curling up next to him. He saw the moment that the Mogadorians realised that he wasn't as weak as they'd thought. They stopped their advance and a couple of them started to back away. Connor smirked victoriously.

"Come on!" he shouted at them "Come on!" Two of the Mogs raised their blasters and Connor burst into action before they had the chance to move. He flicked his left wrist and the tendril of energy shot through the air and wrapped itself around the first Mog's neck. Connor yanked the second forwards with his telekinesis and impaled him with the sword even as he tugged the whip and decapitated the other.

That was all the rest of them needed to start to panic. Some turned and ran but there was no escape. If they were lucky enough to get away from Connor they would be picked off by Eight or Nine or any of the others who were behind them providing covering fire.

Connor himself was a demon, the whip twirling around his head before flicking out to slice off limbs and destroy weapons. His sword wasn't still either. He danced around, blocking blows and impaling any Mogs who managed to dance past his whip.

In a matter of minutes he was covered from head to toe in dust, as were his companions, who he saw briefly before they disappeared back into the thick of the battle. The ash was piling up around him and as new Mogs piled into the corridor, mindlessly coming to kill them with no thought about tactics, they had to wade through the remains of their fallen comrades

Despite how easily they were cutting through the Mogadorians that kept pouring into the corridor the Garde and their allies weren't making any progress through the base, they were stuck fighting a seemingly endless number of enemies in the same place, unmoving.

Connor felt something stab through his chest and looked down to see the tip of a Mogadorian blade sticking out of his front. He jabbed his right elbow backwards into the chest of the Mog who had stabbed him even as a purple spike grew from the elbow. There was the tell-tale thud that indicated the Mog was dead and Connor let the whip dissipate as he brought his hand to the wound, the icy feeling that he had felt before flowing from his hand and into the wound, the skin knitting itself together under his care.

He took this time to study the battlefield.

The Garde had split up, each of them fighting their own battles, whilst Brad, Ella and Sarah were stood further down the corridor with their weapons, each of them picking off any Mogs who strayed from the killing zone. Eight was teleporting around to wherever the fighting was the thickest, appearing amongst groups of Mogs as a variety of terrifying monsters, ripping through the Mogs before disappearing before they could do any damage. He wasn't the only one who was shapeshifting on the battlefield. He hadn't noticed the chimaera that had come with John when they were outside but Sarah had told him about the dog and how well he had acquitted himself in battle. He was doing the same thing now, tearing through the Mogs as though they were made of paper.

Connor saw that if they kept fighting like this they would soon tire and then the Mogs would slaughter them. He knew that they had to push on whilst they still had the advantage. So, rather than plant himself in one spot he prepared himself to charge.

Eight appeared next to him, panting for breath. His curly, black hair was plastered to his forehead in stark contrast to his copper skin.  
"What are you doing?" he asked as he doubled over, trying to catch his breath.  
"Making a path. If we get bogged down here we've lost." Eight nodded and disappeared. A second later he reappeared in the same spot, his hand clasped around Nine's arm.  
"Together." He said simply. Connor nodded in agreement. He could see the look in Nine's eyes, he recognised it as the same look that he'd seen in the mirror many times. He wanted to make the Mogs bleed, and Connor wasn't about to stop him.

The three of them charged forwards, an unstoppable force charging towards the mass of Mogadorians arrayed against them. Connor gave up on using skill to fight, instead he shrouded his body in a spiky, purple armour. Every time he shouldered a Mog out of the way they would turn to ash in front of him.

They reached the end of the corridor and turned right, not stopping as they charged through the Mogadorians that had amassed there. The three of them moved as one, working together to inflict maximum damage to the enemy, as though they'd been training together for years. Connor just charged forwards, cleaving a path right through the middle of the Mogs and Nine charged alongside him, running along the walls and the roof to get around Connor and finish off the Mogs that he missed. Eight was teleporting all over the place, helping Nine to finish off the stragglers. He would appear exactly where he needed to be and then disappear, the only evidence that he was ever there the cloud of ash that he left in his wake.

Connor could hear gunshots behind them and saw an occasional fireball fly past so he knew that the others were following, dealing as much damage as possible to whichever Mogs survived the onslaught that was Connor, Eight and Nine.

Eventually they slid to a halt in front of a huge metal door. It was the only door that they'd encountered since they entered the base which was actually closed, all of the others had been left open and, now that he thought about it, Connor realised that they'd been lead here by whoever was in command of the facility.

"Be careful." Connor declared as the others joined them in front of the door "This smells like a trap."  
"That's just Nine." Eight supplied "I don't think he's washed in weeks." Connor smiled and Nine grumbled out a response but nobody was listening. They were all watching as the doors slid open.

"Sarah, Ella, stay here. If anything comes through that door without us, shoot it." Connor told them as he glanced over his shoulder at the two girls.  
"We can help." Sarah protested.  
"You are helping. I need you to make sure nothing sneaks up behind us." The two girls shared a look and Sarah nodded to show that she agreed, although she didn't look happy about it.

"Let's show these pasty-skinned wankers what we're capable of." Nine twirled his staff through the air, his demeanour showing his confidence. Connor nodded and a sword appeared on each of his hands. Together the five Garde stepped through the doorway and into the unknown.


	15. Chapter 15

**The Soul of Ten**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

10 March 2011

Connor was the first through the door but the others didn't hesitate to follow him.

He was surprised at what they found on the other side. Unlike the rest of the base, which was all cold and metal this was a giant room carved out of the rock. Connor was pleased, it was places like this where he was at his strongest, where his power was the most useful. It was here that the Mogadorians would find their match when they came against him.

He looked at the roof, high above them, and frowned when he saw a black rock hanging from the ceiling. He looked to his side and saw that the others had seen it to. He was just about to tell Nine to go and check it out when the Garde shot off, moving in a blur right at the nearest wall. Connor's eyes followed as he shot up the wall and along the roof, ran a loop around the rock and then came running back down towards them.

"Looks like a giant rock." He told them simply when he re-joined them. Connor knelt down and pressed his hand to the ground, allowing his power to flow through the rock which the room was made of, up the walls and along the roof. As soon as his power made contact with the rock formation in the roof he flinched, pulling his hand away from the ground.  
"It's alive." He breathed out "And it's in pain."  
"No way, man. Rocks don't feel pain." Nine argued.  
"Well this one does." Connor pushed himself to his feet and looked up at the roof again.

Marina gasped and he tore his gaze away from the rock, his eyes following her gaze to someone who was crossing the arena towards them. She had olive skin and black hair and in her right hand she carried a Mogadorian sword. Connor had to admit that the girl was beautiful.

"Six." John called out "What's going on?" Connor studied the girl and frowned when he saw something hanging around her neck, hidden under her shirt. Three chains, identical to the ones which he, John and Marina were wearing. He had no doubt that three identical Loric pendants hung on those chains.

He was about to warn the others, to tell them that it wasn't Six, that they were being tricked somehow, but it was too late. Eight was gone from his side only to reappear a second later standing next to Six. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug even as the young Garde lifted the sword in the air and thrust it through Eight's chest.

Marina screamed and Nine and Connor charged forwards together, Nine moving much faster than Connor could. As the two Garde were charging at her Six's form started to shake and convulse before it started to grow taller and wider. She stopped growing at about 8 feet tall but that wasn't all that changed about her. Her skin faded from the olive tone of Six to a much paler pallor. When she stopped shaking Six was nowhere to be seen, she had been replaced by a giant, monstrous creature with chiselled features and cropped hair. A purple scar ringed his neck, visible even from the other side of the arena, and his teeth were tiny, sharp points.

Connor wanted to turn and run away. He wasn't ready for this fight, none of them were. This was Setrákus Ra, the supreme leader of the Mogadorian Empire. They couldn't beat him, not yet, not without the others. But Nine showed no signs of stopping and Connor knew that he couldn't leave his friend to face off against the most powerful being in the galaxy on his own.

Nine had almost reached Setrákus Ra when a blue lightning rippled from the Mogadorian's hands. It spread throughout the room, rippling through the air, and every time it touched a Garde their Legacies vanished.

Nine stumbled forwards as he was suddenly slowed to a normal running speed. The blades which were trailing behind Connor flickered and died, leaving him completely unarmed. The fireballs that John was about to throw snuffed themselves out in a puff of smoke. Just like that they had been disarmed.

But Nine still wasn't stopping, even as Setrákus Ra dropped the sword and pulled a double-headed whip from behind him. Ra flicked the whip and the two tails burst into an orange flame as they sailed through air towards Nine.

Nine reached Setrákus Ra, dodging around the whip, and the two were soon engaged in a deadly dance. Connor rushed to join them but was cut off as hundreds of Mogadorian soldiers charged into the room, armed with swords and blasters.

Connor's first reaction was to impale them all on spikes of rock but even as he tried he knew that it was hopeless. Somehow Setrákus Ra had taken all of his powers from him and now he had to fight an army of Mogadorians without his greatest advantage.

He tried to remain hopeful but the odds were stacked against them. In all of his training he'd never thought to train for what would happen if he didn't have his powers. He'd never even known that there was a way for this to happen, never mind thought about a way to prepare for it.

But he wasn't about to give up that easily. If he was going to die then he was going to take as many Mogadorians as he could with him.

He charged forwards at the nearest Mog. The soldier slashed his sword for Connor's head but Connor dropped to the ground and rolled under the strike, coming up right in front of the soldier. His first priority needed to be to get himself a weapon to even the odds a little.

He whipped his head forwards and head-butted the soldier in the face. He stumbled backwards and Connor spun around, wrapping his hand around the soldier's wrist, stopping the hand which was carrying the sword from moving. Then he jabbed at the wrist with his other hand, hitting it with enough force to make the soldier release the sword.

Connor let go of his arm and rolled forwards again, out of the Mog's reach. He picked up the sword as he rolled over it and came to his feet with the weapon clutched in his hand. He turned to face the soldier and was pleased to see that he no longer looked as confident as he had seconds ago.

Connor wasted no time, he stepped forwards and thrust his sword right through the soldier's heart, turning him to ash straight away. Connor twirled the sword through the air experimentally, getting used to the feeling of it in his hands. It had been a long time since he'd fought with a sword that actually weighed something.

He faced off against a group of Mogs. One Mog lunged at him but Connor stepped around the blow and countered with a thrust of his own, stabbing the Mog straight through the heart. He pulled the sword out and spun around, batting another sword to the side and punching the soldier who wielded it in the face. He stood on the sword, pinning it to the floor, and then stabbed his own sword through the Mog's throat.

Before he realised it he'd cut through a group of six Mogs like a knife through butter. He was kind of enjoying the feeling of fighting without Legacies, despite the fact that it put him at a huge disadvantage against the Mogadorians, it forced him to use all of his skills in ways that he wasn't used to doing. In short, it was a challenge and he loved it.

A gap opened up in the horde of Mogadorians and through it Connor could see Nine engaged in a deadly tango with Setrákus Ra, dancing around the flaming whip that the Mogadorian leader was using.

Connor took advantage of the gap and dashed forwards, dragging the sword along the floor behind him. He jumped over a Mogadorian's leg and decapitated him as he passed. He landed, rolled forwards and rose to his feet, continuing his charge at Setrákus Ra.

He watched as Ra kicked Nine in the chest, sending him crashing into the floor. Ra raised his whip above his head and lashed it towards Nine.

Connor jumped through the air and sailed between the two just as the whip came down. It struck him across the stomach and wrapped around his back. He cried out in pain and crashed into the floor, his hand immediately coming up to his chest.

He gasped as he felt the wound on his chest. Rather than a blood gash like he'd expected what he really felt was much more worrying. The wound had hardened into what felt like a strange, rock-like substance. He looked down at his chest and saw the same strange, black rock which hung in a formation from the roof spreading out across his chest from where the whip had struck him.

He heard a roar of anger and watched as Nine jumped to his feet and charged back at Ra, distracting him from Connor, who was barely able to move at the minute.

He looked down at his chest. The rock was spreading quickly, most of his chest was covered in the stuff. His eyes flicked to the chunk of rock hanging from the roof and a sudden realisation hit.

That chunk of rock hanging from the ceiling. The one that he thought was alive. Was in pain. It was alive, because it wasn't a chunk of rock. It was Number Six. She was trapped in the rock hanging from the ceiling and if he didn't do something about it he'd be joining her very soon.

The rock was starting to spread over his arms and he knew that there was only one thing that would save him.

He closed his eyes and focussed on the icy feeling that Marina had used outside of the bunker to heal his wound and that he had used again to heal himself during the battle. He tried to imagine that feeling now, flowing from his hands and into the rock which was covering him.

He must have been starting to go delirious because he could have sworn that he could actually feel it working. But that couldn't have been possible because Setrákus Ra had taken their Legacies from him. He twisted his head so that he could look at his arms and was surprised to see that the rock which had been inching its way down his arm was slowly receding.

It took about five minutes for him to get rid of the rock and then a couple of seconds to knit together the wound which the whip had inflicted.

He took a second to catch his breath and prepare himself to continue the battle before he jumped to his feet and turned to face Setrákus Ra.

A blade grew from the back of his right hand on Connor looked down at it with a confident smirk. The blade wasn't glowing as brightly as he was used to and every now and again it flickered and disappeared for a second but Connor couldn't deny that it felt good to get his weapons back.

He strode confidently through the crowd of Mogadorians, swinging his sword around at any Mogs who approached him.

Setrákus Ra and Nine had moved away whilst he was healing himself so he had to fight his way to them. But now that he had his Legacies back most of the Mogs looked terrified and weren't willing to come near to him. Those that braved it were easily swatted aside. Connor noticed that his weapon didn't seem as powerful as he was used to, it was taking more hits to kill the Mogadorians but he didn't actually care, he was just happy to get his weapon back.

Nine stumbled past him and Connor reached out with his mind, stabilising the boy without even touching him. Nine's eyes landed on the flickering purple blade and they widened dramatically.  
"How?" he asked, not quite believing what he was seeing.  
"Not the time." Connor replied simply "Let's get this son of a bitch." Nine grinned viciously and the two of them turned to face Setrákus Ra, who was casually twirling his whip around on the floor. His eyes were fixed on the visible evidence that Connor hadn't lost his Legacies but other than that he showed no emotion at all. There was nothing to say that he was surprised that Connor had his Legacies back, nothing to say that he was scared of the two Garde facing him. There was nothing to show that he was even slightly concerned at this change of circumstances that faced him.

The two Garde charged forwards together, their weapons dragging through the air behind them. Setrákus Ra slashed his whip forwards. One of the heads shot towards him but Connor raised his hand and the tail wrapped around his blade. There was a sizzling sound and a second later the whip was cut in two as Connor's blade cut straight through it.

Setrákus Ra looked furious, the first emotion that Connor had seen him display throughout the entire battle. But he hid it quickly, his face returning to the disfigured grimace that Connor was so used to seeing.

He and Nine closed the gap and then they were engaged in a fight to the death. Despite Connor having his Legacies back he soon found that he was hugely outmatched, even with Nine supporting him. Setrákus Ra wasn't considered the most powerful being in the universe for no reason.

Connor jumped over the remaining tail of the whip and kicked the Mogadorian in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and together Connor and Nine pressed the limited advantage. Nine went for his legs with his staff whilst Connor went for his head, swinging his blade in a wide arc.

Ra jumped over Nine's staff and flicked his whip up to parry Connor's blade. The two weapons collided and a second later the whip head severed but as it did Connor's blade flickered from existence. Rather than stabbing the leader of the Mogadorians through the side of the head he punched him in the face.

Ra's head whipped to the side and the three chains which were hanging around his neck slipped out from under his shirt. Connor had called it right, hanging on the chains were three circular pendants made of blue Loralite. Each of the ten Garde who were evacuated from Lorien were given one of them when they left. He landed and Ra kicked out but Connor rolled with the kick, his momentum taking most of the power behind the blow. He rose to his feet and lunged forwards, grabbing hold of the pendants. Ra kicked him backwards and Connor stumbled but he managed to pull one of the pendants off of the chain that it hung on.

"Those don't belong to you." He nodded at the remaining pendants. Nine limped up next to him and Connor looked down to see that his left leg was bleeding.  
"Come and get them then." Ra threw his whip to the side, it was useless now that Connor had severed the heads. Connor tensed himself and prepared to charge forwards again but something caught his attention.  
"Hey!" it was Ella. She was standing at the edge of the arena, holding onto the bow that Connor had given her. The arrow which she had fitted to the string was glowing red. Connor didn't know how she'd done it but somehow, despite the fact that Setrákus Ra was cancelling all of their Legacies, Ella had developed a new Legacy.

She let go of the arrow and Connor watched with glee as it sailed across the arena and buried itself in Setrákus Ra's back.

Nothing seemed to happen but as Connor looked around the arena he saw that the others were getting their Legacies back. A fireball appeared in John's hand and Marina dropped to her knees next to Eight, healing him from the wound that he'd been dealt right at the start.

Connor turned to look at the Mogadorian commander as he saw their powers come flooding back to them and he could have sworn that Setrákus Ra seemed a light bit afraid.

"Let's finish this." Nine called out. Connor nodded and two blades shot out of the backs of his hands. This time they didn't flicker and die and they weren't dim and lifeless. They were what he was used to; deadly and glowing with energy.

Together the two of rushed the Mogadorian leader but they never reached him.

The arena was shook with an explosion and Connor was thrown off of his feet, into Nine. The two of them crashed into each other and fell to the floor, tumbling over each other and ending up in a mess of tangled limbs on the floor.

By the time they'd untangled from each other and climbed to their feet Setrákus Ra and all of his Mogadorians had disappeared. The only people left in the arena were the six Garde, Sarah, Brad and Bernie Kosar.

There was a cracking sound from above them and Connor looked up just in time to see the chunk of black rock separate from the roof and crash into the ground. It cracked into thousands of tiny pieces which scattered along the floor and Connor saw someone crouching in the middle of the debris.

Connor looked around at all of the others in the room. Eight had nearly died, apparently Sarah and Ella had nearly died, Connor had nearly died and Six… well, Connor didn't really understand what had happened to Six, but she looked pretty shaken up too.

They couldn't win this fight.

The thought terrified him and he hated himself for it but he knew it was true. He'd felt Setrákus Ra's power, he'd felt how hopelessly weak he was besides the Mogadorian Leader. Even with their Legacies Connor and Nine had been outmatched.

"Let's get out of here." He heard John say. Connor spun around to look at his friends, to see how happy they all were to be together again, and he knew what he had to do.

"I can't go with you." He announced. He saw them freeze on the way towards the exit and, almost in total unison, turn to face him.  
"What do you mean?" Sarah was the first to break the tense silence, "Of course you can come with us."  
"No I can't." he replied. He didn't want to do this to them. They were his friends, Sarah and Ella especially, "There's something I need to do. Alone."  
"We're finally all together-" John tried to tell him but Connor held up a hand to cut him off.  
"I don't expect you to understand." He told them, "But I have questions that need answering and no offence but you guys are as in the dark as I am." He took a deep breath, trying to think how best to explain this to them, "I've stayed ahead of the Mogs my whole life, on my own, because I know how to get information. And now I have questions that I don't have the answers to. And I need the answers. _We_ need the answers. So let me go and do what I do best… gather intelligence."

"Good luck, Number Ten." John said after a moments silence. Connor nodded to him and then proceeded to say goodbye to the others. Each of them offered to go with him but he turned them all down claiming that he worked better on his own.

"Hey, short-stuff." He said as he walked over to Ella. She hadn't come to say goodbye with the others and he was a little worried about her, "Why aren't you happier? You got a new, kickass Legacy. You saved the day."  
"It felt… weird." She replied quietly, "And wrong. I don't want it, Connor." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.  
"That's okay." He whispered in her ear, trying to calm her down, "We won't make you use it again. Not if you don't want to. I promise."  
"But you aren't going to be there to keep your promise."  
"You let me worry about that. But just remember: when I make a promise, I keep it." She nodded and he let her go, standing straight again.

He turned around to find Sarah waiting patiently for him.  
"Is she alright?" Sarah asked, looking over his shoulder at Ella.  
"Make sure the others don't try and make her use her new Legacy." He said, not bothering to explain.  
"How am I meant to do that when I'm with you?"  
"You aren't coming with me." He said bluntly, "Ella needs you and you've just found John again. He needs you and you need him. I've spent all this time keeping you safe so you could find him, there's no way I'm letting you leave him now." She opened her mouth to argue but he glared at her, "Don't argue with me, Hart."  
"Fine," she conceded, "But you'd better come back alive. I need my best friend."  
"You aren't getting rid of me that easily." His smile quickly faded, "Promise me, Sarah. She can't use her Legacy yet."  
"I promise."

Connor didn't hang around after he'd finished saying goodbye, he simply picked a door at random and headed towards it. He stopped, frowning, when Brad stepped into his path.  
"Get out of the way, Brad." He practically growled.  
"I told you I would fight for you and die for you. That means you don't get to leave me behind." He added; "Besides: you want information and I'm full of it. Like how you wouldn't last 10 minutes without me."  
"I survived 19 years without you." Connor shot back but there was no venom in it, not really, "Fine. Let's go. I hate goodbyes anyway."


End file.
